The Past Catches Up
by Asaf
Summary: After having a difficult relationship with your parents and running away, the last thing you expect or want is for them to coincidentally move in to where you now live after you've settled down, started a new life and even found love. A sequel to my previous story "Of Friendship, Opportunity and Apprehension".
1. A Family Reunion

**A/N: Hey guys, it's about time I brought you that sequel I promised! To those of you who haven't read my previous story I suggest reading it before reading this one, in case you're interested, it will make things clearer for you because there are a few original characters as well as events that took place in the previous story which will be relevant to this sequel. Anyway, to those of you who followed my previous story and me, I hope you enjoy this story as much as you enjoyed the previous one =]**

It was another sunny beautiful day in the quiet village named Ponyville, the type of day that would make just about everypony smile after walking out of bed and looking out through the window. With winter freshly out of the way, the ponies of Equestria in general and of Ponyville in particular could look forward to waking up with smiles on their faces every morning. Not only that, but Hearts and Hooves Day was nearing and the ponies of Ponyville, especially those who were planning to spend this one of a kind day with their special ones, were eagerly helping out with preparations such as making decorations and placing them wherever they were noticeable by whoever passed and would pass by. All those types of colorful decorations, (in the different shades of pink, red and purple of course,) were meant to give the village the romantic mood and ambience which were designated to this special holiday.

Those decorations always made Rainbow Dash feel sick. She hated those types of colors in almost every way possible. The only exceptions she made for that were the deep-purple stripe on her mane and tail and the magenta hue of her eyes, because it was her way to believe that on her everything looked awesome and cool. Not only did she not like the decorations that flooded the village during Hearts and Hooves Day, but the whole idea of going out while being surrounded by many other ponies, especially ones who were busy giggling at their dates or speaking to them in a way silly way made her want to throw up even harder. If one wanted her to really freak out and lose her mind he would tie her up and throw her into Ponyville during Hearts and Hooves Day, but anyone who was smart enough to figure this out was also smart enough to figure out that he should never do it unless he was tired of living.

Luckily for the rainbow-maned pegasus she flew so fast that she could fly past the entire village in a matter of seconds, and even during those few seconds she moved too fast in order to actually notice any of the decorations that were being placed all over Ponyville or to hear anypony who was busy singing and whatnot. With Ponyville in its currently sappy condition out of the way, Rainbow Dash went ahead and flew towards Sweet Apple Acres where she intended to say hello to her friend Applejack and to her coltfriend who was usually helping around at the farm during this time of the day. Sure, she had her weather job to perform, but she always did it so quickly that it was never really considered a major part of her 'to do' list, which was rather empty. She and Paint had been together for half a year now. It was a little hard for the pegasus mare to realize how fast those six months had passed by. To her it seemed like the whole mess with Discord and Night Mare Moon occurred only last week and not six months ago. Maybe the fact that she had nearly died twice back then was why it was stuck in her memory harder than the first time she and her friends faced Night Mare Moon or the first time she and her friends faced Discord, or maybe it was because this time they had to deal with both of them at the same time. Well, it could have been worse if they had to deal with the changeling queen as well, but the most important thing was that it was all over now.

When she arrived at Sweet Apple Acres she saw, to her surprise, Applejack sitting with her back against one of the trees and with her hat on her face in order to provide some shade. "Applejack, what are you doing?" asked Rainbow Dash, surprised that her hard working friend was resting on the job.

"What d'ya mean by what am Ah doin'?" asked the earth pony, returning her hat to its usual spot on her head so that she could look at her friend. "I'm nappin'. Ah never though ye wouldn't recognize it when somepony was nappin'. After all ye're the nappin' master."

"Very funny AJ," replied the rainbow-maned mare with a chuckle, "I can tell that you're napping, but didn't you tell me that you have a lot of work to do today?"

"No siree, that was yesterday."

"Was it?"

"Eeyup."

"Oh…" she felt slightly embarrassed for making such a silly mistake. She looked around, trying to see whether there was anypony else around. "I guess your brother went to see Fluttershy."

Applejack chuckled, "Where else would he be then?" At first it was a little awkward knowing that her older brother and one of her best friends were dating, but she got used to it quickly enough. "Well, at least that fact that they're together guarantees that there'll be no love potion in his fruit punch this year."

Rainbow Dash grinned at what Applejack had just said, "I bet that's a relief."

"It sure is."

"Whoever might be their victim this year, I probably won't be there to see it."

"Oh come on Rainbow, even Fluttershy agreed to go to the Hearts and Hooves Day festival, and ye can probably try and guess how long it took Big Mac to convince her." As she said this she looked at her friend while raising an eyebrow.

"But being in Ponyville during Hearts and Hooves Day fills me with a terrible vomiting reflex."

"Ah know it does." said Applejack with a laugh.

"Why do you feel the need to tease me all the time?" asked Rainbow Dash in a complaining tone.

"'Cause that's what friends do when it comes to relationships." She chuckled once more when her friend's cheeks became red. "Relax sugar cube. Remember that it could be worse if Rarity was here."

"True." As she said that she began to wonder whether Rarity herself had any plans for Hearts and Hooves Day, if they even celebrated it in Canterlot. "What about the others?"

"Well," began Applejack, "Fluttershy's with Big Mac, Pinkie Pie's runnin' around Ponyville while probably doin' whatever she does to prepare for the festival and Twilight's probably in the library."

"Where's Paint?" asked the rainbow-maned pegasus, letting her friend know that the main reason she asked her question was to know where the stallion was.

Applejack again chuckled. "You're coltfriend's up there." She said, pointing up to the clouds above them.

"Whatever Applejack, keep laughing," said Rainbow Dash with a grin as she rose into the air, "we both know that you're dying to have Soarin' show up here during Hearts and Hooves day."

"Am not!" said Applejack with a frown, jumping to her hooves, "Take that back!"

"I can tell you're lying." said Rainbow Dash with a triumphant grin as she flew up to look for her special somepony. Applejack was always a terrible liar. The sky was rather clear and there weren't many clouds so it didn't take her too long before she found him sleeping on one of them. He looked so peaceful, and the way he was curled up into a ball made her heart melt. Of course, she would never confess to any one that she found it cute, except to him maybe. Paint was no athlete, and the fact that he liked reading from time to time earned him the egghead title Twilight also shared. Despite that, she liked him anyway and enjoyed being in his company. He was also a gentle stallion with a kind nature. Scootaloo and the rest of the Rainbow Dash fan club thought that he and Rainbow Dash did not fit together, and if anybody suddenly walked up to Rainbow Dash and asked her whether she would be interested in dating a pegasus who could not come close to out-flying her she would have probably said no. Still, she cared about him and she never really cared too much about what other ponies said about the fact that they were seeing each other.

For a moment she thought about waking him up, but instead she stood next to him and thought about it. Clouds were very comfortable, (her own bed was made of clouds), and she herself would be quite angry if someone woke her up while she was busy sleeping on a cloud and under the warmth of the sun. In addition to that, Paint proved to be a very good pillow, which often made the naps they shared 20% better and cooler in comparison to regular naps. Deciding to not wake him up, she went ahead and lay down beside him before snuggling close to him, resting her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes. Another good thing about napping on clouds was that the odds of a stranger stumbling across them were low.

A certain amount of time had passed by the time Rainbow Dash had opened her eyes again, because the location of the sun indicated that it was now a later part of the morning. With the sun high in the sky, the warmth provided by it was even stronger. The rainbow-maned pegasus noticed after a few seconds that one of her coltfriend's wing as well as one of his forelegs were wrapped around her, making her feel even cozier than when she first lay down beside him after finding him asleep. She looked at Paint and smiled upon seeing that he was awake. "Good morning sleeping beauty." said he with a smile, bringing her even closer using the foreleg which he wrapped around her while she slept.

Rainbow Dash giggled at the compliment. Giggling was something she rarely did. In fact she held back from doing anything too sappy unless they were alone, another reason to why she didn't like the idea of going out to places where there were other ponies. "Hey…" she said, leaning in and giving him a short nuzzle which he happily returned, "How long have you been up?"

"A few minutes." was the answer. "So how's my Dashie this fine morning?"

Rainbow Dash giggled again, "Fine. Nothing to do mainly…" the only one to who she allowed to call her Dashie was him. Yes, Pinkie did it all the time, but that didn't mean that Rainbow Dash approved of it or liked it. "What about you?"

"Well, not much to do on the farm today, so I guess we're pretty much in the same position." There was a short pause, "Well, I did plan to pass through the library to borrow a book…"

Rainbow Dash sighed and rolled her eyes. "You read too much. You still need to work on your flying." Yes, she was still giving him flying lessons from time to time, but those 'lessons' often ended up with them doing something else and being distracted by each other.

"Hey, just so you know, I've been practicing recently."

"Have you now?" asked she with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. I can show you if we fly to the library." said he with a grin.

Rainbow Dash chuckled, "Figures… Oh well, why not." Despite not wanting to move from their cozy position she got up and stretched.

"Just try not to throw up on all the decorations when we pass there." He said, grinning at her once more as he too got up.

"You know me well enough." said she with a smile.

"You know," he added, putting on a disappointed look, "I was kind of hoping we could do something special on Hearts and Hooves Day…"

"Of course we can." She said, "Just not there." She pointed towards the village with a hoof. "But if you want," she added, walking closer to him with a grin, "we can always head over to my place…"

"That's sounds very tempting." He smiled as he stared into her magenta eyes.

"Come on egghead," as she said that she rose into the air, "Let's go get your stupid book."

The trip to the library didn't take long. Indeed Rainbow Dash noticed that Paint had improved his speed, but she was still not satisfied enough as to let him off the hook and told him that he still had a long way to go before he would be allowed to call himself a fast flyer. They did talk to Twilight and Spike a bit while they were there. The talking was mainly divided to between Spike and Paint and to between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Spike felt more comfortable about voicing all his complaints to another guy, about how he wished Rarity was in Ponyville now or how he felt like throwing up whenever he thought about her and Prince Blueblood within less than a minute of each other. Twilight asked Rainbow Dash whether she and Paint were planning to go to the Hearts and Hooves Day celebration together. Rainbow Dash only shook her head at the question before asking Twilight whether she was planning on asking somepony out or whether she was expecting somepony to ask her, a question at which Twilight shook her head and blushed. It made Rainbow Dash slightly uncertain whether Twilight was telling her the truth or not. Either way, it was really none of her business. Any other friend of theirs, especially Rarity and Pinkie Pie, might have pushed the unicorn for a more detailed answer though.

The two pegasi then left the library. At first Rainbow Dash resisted the idea of staying in Ponyville for more than the time it was going to take to fly away from it but Paint managed to convince her to take a walk with him, saying that they didn't have anything better to do anyway. "Fine." said Rainbow Dash, defeated, "You owe me. Just you wait." Paint only chuckled and they went towards the main part of the village.

At first Rainbow Dash would wince or make vomit noises at almost everything they saw, from decorations to happy looking couples, but eventually she stopped her complaints. "It's not so bad is it?" asked Paint, earning an eye-roll as a response from his marefriend.

They passed by Sugar Cube Corner at some point and, despite the risks that came with it, decided to go in and say hello to Pinkie Pie. She wasn't there though, and the two realized that there would be no finding her. Finding Pinkie Pie was considered quite an impossible task unless you happened to stumble across her when coming to places that were considered to be her usual hangout spots like, Sugar Cube Corner for example. It wasn't surprising to them when they didn't find her, because Pinkie Pie was usually a staple in the preparations not only for Hearts and Hooves Day but for pretty much every holiday, and therefore she was probably running around the village at the speed of light right now.

Seeing as talking to Pinkie Pie was not an option the couple decided that going to say hello to Fluttershy and Big Macintosh was the best option they had, not that it was a bad one. Rainbow Dash was more than pleased at the idea, because it meant going out of Ponyville and away from the silly decorations. On their way towards out of the village they passed by a large looking house. Rainbow Dash stopped there, "Hey look," she said, getting Paint's attention, "They finally finished building this house." If she remembered correctly, the constructing of what seemed to be a very large home began a few months ago.

"Oh yeah, looks like the workers finished it…" said Paint, examining the place. The house had a front porch slightly above the ground, which meant that in order to reach the door one would have to climb a few stairs. It had 3 floors and the outside of it looked fancy in a way that would make one wonder whether the inside looked better than the outside. "It looks like they did a great job to me."

"I wonder who lives in such a place." The house was even bigger than Rainbow Dash's cloud home in size.

"Whoever they might be, they have to be really rich in order to afford buying and maintaining it." The two pegasi continued to stare at the house for a few more moments. "Okay, I think we've had enough of staring at this house, let's get going."

As they began to walk away from the house and in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage the door opened but they paid no attention to it. Somepony walked out on to the porch and Paint stopped dead in his tracks when his name reached his ears. "Paint? Is it you?" His eyes went wide. That voice was familiar. It was the voice of a mare he thought and hoped he'd never see again. He continued to stand there as the mare walked down the stairs, and only when she was standing right behind him did he turn around and face her. When he did turn around his fears were confirmed.

"Mom?!"

**A/N: Well, that's it for this first chapter. Reviews will be most welcome!**


	2. One Year, One Life Changing Event

**A/N: Hey guys, I just feel like I should mention that within 2 days of posting the first chapter of this story my email was flooded with over 25 messages about you guys following me and the story, adding me and the story to your favorites and reviewing the first chapter. I can't thank you guys enough, it felt really great to see so many messages!**

The one thought or question, however you wish to call it because some question are stated without the intention of getting an answer, that passed through Paint's mind as he and his mother stood there and stared at each other in silence was 'what are the odds?'. After having a difficult relationship with your parents and running away, the last thing you expect or want is for them to coincidentally move in to where you now live after you've settled down, started a new life and even found love. After all, why would one run away in the first place if not to leave the past behind and to start afresh, to live a life that involved even the slightest bit of joy and happiness?

When you dwell on it, what were the odds really? It had been 1 year since Paint ran away and 6 months since he arrived in Ponyville. Think of how much distant Ponyville is from the town he's originally from, regardless of the fact that he travelled without any type of vehicle and regardless of the fact that he would stop for a few days / a week in villages and towns on the way! How many miles and kilometers which he thought and hoped would keep him and his unhappy past separated! The many directions there are to take from one spot when you are aiming to go to no place in particular, so many of them, that the chances of two ponies ending up arriving at the same place was so little considering that one of them could accidentally go off the trail while on the way. (Try to picture the map of Equestria or of your own real-life country as a maze, place two ponies or people at one spot before having the first one go off in a random direction, which the second individual will not know of, and then send the second one off as well. You would have most likely done something like that with the very intention of creating permanent separation between the two, and your reaction in the case of a failure will most likely be one of shock and want of explanations.)

Somepony else who was finding the situation even more awkward was Rainbow Dash. Despite how close she and Pant had grown towards each other in the past 6 months she knew pretty much nothing about what happened to him before he came to Ponyville. The only thing she did know was that Paint and his parents were never really close and that he ran away. That was the only thing he had ever told her. All attempts ever made by her or anypony else to find out anything else about the stallion's earlier life were fruitless, because he always refused to talk about the matter and would immediately change the subject when it was brought up. Still, from the little that she knew, she could understand that her coltfriend was feeling anything but content at the moment. Of his mother, though, she couldn't make much. The older mare looked surprised, like her son was, but other than that it was impossible to even try to assume what was going on in her mind. She and her son were probably not as close as the typical mother-son couple, that Rainbow Dash was certain about, but 'not close' could have many definitions. It could even mean that they hated each other for all she knew, which was, again, very little. It never really bothered her that she knew so little about Paint until that very moment because it was never relevant. The last reaction she expected from his mother was the one that took place after those few moments of silence: she embraced her still motionless son and began to cry.

"Oh sweetheart, I can't believe it's you!" she pulled away and looked at her son, as if wanting to confirm that he was really there and that she wasn't just imagining. The look on his face was one of shyness and guilt, which made Rainbow Dash even more confused. "There you are…" she looked so happy to see him again that it made her son look like an evil pony who should be sent into prison and locked there for the rest of his life. "I haven't seen you for so long, an entire year, and here you are…" Rainbow Dash had already made up her mind that Paint had some serious explaining to do, because it didn't seem like his mother was unhappy to see him like the pegasus mare expected her to be. On the contrary, she looked like the happiest pony alive. "I lost all hope of ever seeing you again."

When Paint finally answered her the guilt was noticeable not only on his face but also in his voice. "Hi mom…" Rainbow Dash's confusion as well as her curiosity kept growing when she noticed that there was a very small bit of joy in his tone as well as a small smile on his face. She never expected him to be too happy if he ever saw his parents again. His mother hugged him again, and this time he returned her hug. "What are you doing here?"

His mother broke the hug once more so that she could look at him again. "We moved here." Paint's jaw nearly dropped when his mother said this, much to Rainbow Dash's confusion (so much confusion!) Why was he suddenly upset again when he looked a little more cheerful just a moment ago? "Isn't that great?"

"Yeah…" he said slowly, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof nervously. "That's terrific… Um… Why?"

"Your father's business has been transferred to Canterlot, so we figured we should get a house here since it's a much quieter place. What a nice village this is! The ponies here are so nice, and there was this pink pony who said she'd throw a welcome party for us! What a sweet girl!" she then looked at Rainbow Dash, who until that point stayed out of the conversation mainly because she was trying to comprehend Paint's strange and sudden mood swings which made even less sense than Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense. "And who are you sweetie?"

"I'm Rainbow Dash ma'am." said she with a smile. What a kind and sweet mare her coltfriend's mother was. She could not understand why Paint ran away in the first place. Now that his mother was there she hoped she'll manage to get some information out of him. "I'm-"

Paint's mother cut her short by letting out a gasp. "Wait, don't tell me! You and my son are a couple aren't you?" the rainbow-maned pegasus felt her cheeks turn red as she slowly nodded. "Oh, look at the two of you!" her son's cheeks were also a little red, "You look so cute together!"

"Mom, please…"

"Alright, alright, I'll stop being embarrassing." She chuckled, "Come on, I want to show you the house!"

Paint could connect his parents and a large house like that because the family had a very large income from the business his father was running. The two pegasi went ahead and followed the older mare towards the house. They ascended the stairs and walked towards the door before Rainbow Dash noticed that Paint stopped walking as soon as they were done climbing the stairs, as if hesitating to continue. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he addressed his mother. "Is dad here?" Any confidence and comfort that characterized his features in the last few moments were now gone.

"No dear, he's staying in Canterlot for a few more weeks to prepare a few things." She opened the door and walked inside. Rainbow Dash watched with a raised eyebrow as Paint once again looked a lot calmer and then they went inside, with Rainbow Dash entering after him and closing the door behind her. She thought about stopping him at the door for a moment to quietly ask him what the matter with his changing behavior was, but figured that now was not the right time to do so. One thing she had to admit though: he was reacting to it better than she thought he would, which was a good thing in spite of how odd he was acting.

The house looked even larger from the inside and therefore even more impressive. Despite the fact that not all the belongings were unpacked, because the house had only recently become inhabited, it looked very fancy. The staircase that led to the second floor was located in front of the door. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but wonder just how many ponies could live in such a big house. Just from where they were she could see so many doors, that even if each pony that might live there got a room for himself the house would still be able to hold over ten ponies just in the first floor. Within a few moments Rainbow Dash understood why because she saw a few mares wondering around all over the place. With the way they were dressed the pegasus mare realized that they were maids. Most of them were unicorns, because magic made it easier to do many things. Well, magic and paws or claws like Spike's. Households of the sort that contained maids were very typical in the less modern ages, and nowadays they were quite uncommon with the exception of royal families and very rich families that needed a household and could afford it. Such an enormous house sure did look like it needed all the help one could get in order for it to run smoothly. Not that Rainbow Dash cared too much about wealth, but Paint never seemed like he was from a rich family, which made her realize once again how little she knew about him, and the less she knew the more uneasy she felt.

The rainbow-maned pegasus expected the maids to recognize Paint but none of them paid too much attention to them, only stopping by to greet their lady before carrying on with the many chores that an estate-like house contains. Paint asked his mother, rather hopefully, whether anypony he knew was there and Rainbow Dash realized that he was referring to the maids. His mother answered: "Elisa moved with us. The others stayed behind because of how long the trip here took. But you know Elisa, she's so dedicated to what she does and she insisted to stick with us. I didn't argue of course."

Upon hearing that Paint again looked a lot more cheerful, as if Elisa's name was the one he was hoping to hear, and this time Rainbow Dash could not help her curiosity. "Who's Elisa?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound too rude.

"She's the housekeeper and my mom's maid in waiting." Said Paint as he continued to study whatever he could see.

"Don't be ridiculous son;" said his mother," you know that Elisa is and will always be one of my dearest friends."

"And mine." He said with a smile.

Paint's mother looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile, "She's been in our household since I married my husband."

"Is she here?" asked Paint, and again Rainbow Dash found her coltfriend's excitement peculiar. "Can I see her?"

His mother smiled at him warmly, "Of course you can." She looked towards the top of the stairs and around them, "Elisa, can you come down here please?" she called, managing to hide the excitement in her tone because she knew how happy Elisa would be to see Paint again and wanted it to be a surprise.

A short moment passed before the voice of a mare was heard from upstairs, "Just a moment my lady!" Hoofsteps were heard and the mare in question appeared on top of the staircase holding a pretty large box with her magic. The box pretty much hid her and prevented her from seeing who was downstairs. "You said you wanted these in the living room right?"

"Yes dear but never mind that for the time being, I need you down here."

The unicorn mare descended the stairs, still carrying the box with her. "I'll go put this down in the living room and then I'll be-"

Paint cut her short by chuckling and saying, "Just put it down Elisa, you'll end up overworking yourself."

Elisa stopped making her way towards the living room when she heard his voice and immediately put the box down, obviously recognizing him just by hearing him speak despite having not seen him for an entire year. She had the appearance of a typical adult mare but she looked younger than Paint's mother. Even though she recognized his voice and saw that he was in the same room with her she stood motionless for a few seconds, obviously having a hard time believing that he was there. From the looks of it she was probably trying to figure out what were the odds, just like he did when his mother approached him. The unicorn mare looked at the pegasus in front of her for another moment of silence before embracing him in a hug which he returned. "We were so worried about you!"

Paint was about to give a sarcastic 'we?' for an answer but he didn't. He knew more than well who he had hurt by running away and who didn't give a damn upon seeing his goodbye letter. He also knew that Elisa knew it just as well as he did. "I missed you." Elisa had always been like a second mother to him, even after he had grown from a foal to a young stallion.

"We missed you too dear!" she pulled away from him, looking confused, "How? Where did you come from?"

"I live here… I've lived here for the past 6 months."

"It's so great," interrupted his mother, "now you can live with us again."

Paint smiled as his mother said that, but that smile disappeared as soon as it had come. Elisa noticed that and knew just what he was thinking: that coming back to live with them again might be pleasant for the time being but that everything will be different in a few weeks. Despite the fact that she didn't say anything, Rainbow Dash could tell that Elisa caught on to something Paint's mother hadn't. While she was happy that there was somepony who seemed to understand him so well she still a little upset about how little her knowledge of Paint's past was. Perhaps if Paint still avoided telling her Elisa would prove to be a better source of information, because obviously his mother wouldn't be too please to hear questions like the ones Rainbow Dash had in mind. "Oh, I almost forgot," said the stallion, and Rainbow Dash knew that he was changing the subject, "Where's Silver?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the question, not knowing who he was. She couldn't even tell why Paint ran away in the first place; everypony seemed to love him and he seemed to love them.

"Oh, he's with your father in Canterlot. You know how he is, always busy with his studies. Since there's such a big library in Canterlot he decided to stay there for the time being and they will both move in when your father's done with whatever it is he's doing there." She laughed a short laugh, "No really, I have no idea what he's doing there." There was a short silence after which the older mare introduced Rainbow Dash to Elisa, who was more than excited to meet somepony who was obviously a major part of Paint's life.

"I want to write to him. Can I write to him?" he asked, rather enthusiastically.

"Of course you can." Said Elisa with a smile, "I'll make sure it reaches him today."

Paint's mother then said, "Come on you two, let me show you around the rest of the house."

The two pegasi and unicorn began to follow her, but Rainbow Dash stopped him for a moment and waited a few seconds until Paint's mother and Elisa had gained some distance on them. "Who's Silver?" she asked.

"He's my older brother." Was his answer, and it took the rainbow-maned mare by surprise. She never knew Paint had an older brother. How little she knew about somepony who was so close to her! He let out a sigh, "He was the one I had the hardest time leaving behind..."

Rainbow Dash's ears went flat against her head. She already felt bad for asking. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." On the bright side, he seemed a little more willing to share things with her now.

"It's alright." He said with a smile, giving her a short and appreciative nuzzle.

They went ahead and carried on following the two older mares. At some point of the rather long tour Rainbow Dash apologized and asked whether she could use the restroom. Elisa immediately volunteered to show her the way and Paint was left alone with his mother. It was a rather awkward moment and the silence was interrupted by the sound of crying, a foal's crying. "Oh, how could I have forgotten that?!" asked his mother, looking at her son, "Come, there's somepony I want you to meet." Before he could ask her what was going on she ran back towards the door of the house and then climbed the stairs. He ran after her up to the second floor, and when he realized that the sound of the crying was coming from the third floor he figured he might as well make use of his wings.

They arrived at the third floor and Paint followed his mother into the room from which the crying was coming from. He wasn't surprised when he saw a little foal crying in its cradle. "What…"

His mother held the baby foal and began soothing it. "Paint, meet your baby sister, her name's Emerald, like the color of her eyes." She said with a smile once Emerald had fallen back asleep before placing her back down in the cradle.

"Sister?" she looked like she was barely a few days old.

"I became pregnant a short while after you left." Paint said nothing, and the two stood there silently until one of the maids called his mother from downstairs, wanting to see where she wanted certain things placed.

Paint was left on his own with the sleeping Emerald. He stood there and looked at his baby sister as she slept. How peaceful she looked, not to mention that she was extremely adorable. Yet he stood there and did not smile like one would upon finding out that he / she had a new baby sister or brother. If his mother was so distraught when he ran away then how come she became pregnant so shortly afterwards?

If at that very moment he could have made one wish and have it granted, he would have wished that his parents were gone from Ponyville and as far away from his as possible and that nopony related to him would know that he was there.

To him it looked like he was replaced, and he hated them for it.


	3. Break Down

The house in which they were now in looked very large from the outside, but Rainbow Dash found it even bigger than what it appeared to be now that she was in it. There were so many rooms and corridors, while most of them not very big, that it looked like an entire indoors neighborhood from the inside, which gave it the appearance and the feeling of one big maze. The maids which they passed by as they walked looked as if they knew the house better than their own hoofs, and remembering every single thing that was in it looked like it was going to require more memorizing effort than the effort Rainbow Dash had made during her entire time at school. The rainbow-maned mare was never too much into learning. The only thing she ever did read was posters about upcoming performances or races of the Wonderbolts and the Daring Do books. It was rather amazing how confusing just walking to the restroom in this house was, but Rainbow Dash thought that at least she would have some sort of a clue on how to retrace the steps she and Elisa took in order to get back to where they were before. Unfortunately she soon found herself as lost as she was before but Elisa was there waiting for her, either as a result of politeness, of having expected that the pegasus wouldn't know where to go or both. "If you'll follow me I'll take you back to where we were before." said the unicorn mare, and Rainbow Dash smiled with a short thankful nod as an answer before following her.

The housekeeper seemed like a very cheerful pony in her nature. Rainbow Dash had never really met mares whose life occupation was running a household or being a part of it, but she always thought that such a job was difficult, depressing and not to mention boring. Yet Elisa seemed to be rather content with what she was doing, or maybe her glee was the result of Paint showing up after being gone for an entire year. From the short of what she had seen, Rainbow Dash could tell that her coltfriend and the housekeeper must have been close before he ran away, which added even more mystery to the whole question of why he ran away in the first place. After all, when you're close even to your housekeeper, you're most likely happy where you are. All the cyan pegasus knew about why Paint ran away so far was that he and his parents "were never really close". Well, from what she had witnessed so far, his mother was really happy when she saw him. She cried of happiness when she recognized him! If that was 'not close' then perhaps Rainbow Dash was the one who misunderstood something. No, there was a lot more to Paint's past than the short statement about the relationship between him and his parents which is quoted above, and knowing so little about pretty much everything was not making her feel any better at all.

Whatever it was that had happened, Rainbow Dash had no doubt whatsoever that Elisa would be able to clear things up. Unable to help her curiosity, she touched the unicorn's shoulder as they walked, silently asking her to stop for a moment. "Is there anything wrong dear?" asked the housekeeper as she turned around and faced her, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Rainbow Dash only shook her head slowly, unable to not smile a little at how nice Elisa was, "No, I'm fine, thank you." There was a short pause as she tried to think of how to say what she wanted to say, "Listen… Paint and I have been together for quite a long time now, and he never really told me anything about why he ran away… I never really pushed him for explanations because it wasn't really relevant, but now that you've moved here… I don't think he'll be too willing to talk, and it would mean a lot to me to not have this feeling as if I don't know something so important about him." She hoped that the question wasn't too pushy, but that truly was the way she felt.

"I understand." said Elisa with a sigh.

"All that he has ever told me was that he and his parents were never really close, but… When his mother came to us before we came in here… She was so happy to see him, and she looks like such a sweet and kind mare… And then you, who he seems to have missed terribly, and now I also found out that he has an older brother who he was very attached to… I'm really confused; he never even mentioned having a sibling before!"

"Please, you cannot blame him for being unwilling to talk about all that has happened."

"I am not blaming him, believe me that I am not, but now that you're here I feel like I know so little about him, he all of a sudden seems like a completely different pony."

"Do sit." Said the unicorn, motioning towards a few chairs that were placed in the hall they were now at. "They don't seem to be looking for us, so we should have a couple of minutes." It took Rainbow Dash a moment to realize that she was talking about Paint and his mother, and that the two were probably going to start wondering what was taking so long sooner or later. She sat down in front of the older mare in front of her, waiting for her to continue. The housekeeper again sighed, and then began talking once more.

"Paint's mother and father are both earth ponies, and he has a brother as well, also an earth pony. If I'm not mistaken he is the first pegasus in the family of both his father and his mother for many generations now. His mother and brother were very excited when he was born," Rainbow Dash became slightly confused at how she didn't mention Paint's father, but decided to not interrupt and to let her continue. "Other than going to flight school he lived with us all the time. I helped raise him as well as his brother."

"Paint's mother said that you've been with them since she married?"

"Yes. I couldn't help but experience this sensation of nostalgia when he was born. Not only because it had brought back memories of his brother's birth, but because of how he reminded me so much of his older brother by his personality and behavior. Silver was homeschooled by their father."

"So Paint never went to school with other foals? He was also homeschooled by his father?"

"Well, no. His brother used to tutor him." Rainbow Dash again said nothing despite the urge to. "You see, his older brother likes to study, a lot, and-"

"I have a friend who does pretty much nothing but read."

"Yeah, pretty much that." Said Elisa with a chuckle, "Anyway, even before he began getting his education you could see what a clever foal he was, and talented too. Just a few days after he was born he managed to somehow get his brother's pencil somehow. He ended up using his own diaper as a sketchpad because he didn't really have paper…" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Also you should have seen how enthusiastic he was whenever his brother would teach him something new, he was so eager to learn things, his mother and brother were always pleased by the progress he would make. He and Silver were so close to each other."

"Like bbbff's?" asked Rainbow Dash, again not asking about why Paint's father was again and again being kept out of the image of a happy and wonderful foal-hood Elisa was describing.

Elisa nodded with a smile, "Yes, exactly." She was about to say something else when the voice of Paint's mother suddenly echoed through the house calling her name. "Oh, looks like we'll have to continue this conversation another time." She said as they both got up, much to Rainbow Dash's disappointment because she still didn't know why Paint ran away. "We'll be right there madam!" she called, again motioning for Rainbow Dash to follow her. "Listen dear; you're welcome here any time."

"Thank you, it was really nice meeting you." replied the pegasus with a smile.

They walked for a short while and went up the stairs to the second floor where they found Paint's mother. "Have you seen Paint anywhere?"

Rainbow Dash and Elisa looked at each other for a moment before the housekeeper replied, "No, we thought he was with you."

"Well he was, and we were in the third floor when I had to leave for a moment. When I came back he was gone. By the way did you leave the window in Emerald's room open?"

"Of course not madam, we don't want her to catch a cold do we?"

"That's what I've been thinking, I could have sworn it was closed but it was open when I returned." There was a short pause, "A little strange for him to just disappear like that, I never even heard him go downstairs."

Rainbow Dash saw the older mare looking at her, "Oh, maybe he left because he has some work to do." With all honesty, she had no idea where did her coltfriend go to, but the least she could do was give an answer that would not worry his mother.

"But he left without saying a word, how odd."

"Uh, yeah… That is a little weird…" Rainbow Dash looked at Elisa in the corner of her eye, but the unicorn did not seem to be confused at all. Again Rainbow Dash felt like she was missing something. "Well, I guess I'll go look for him then."

"Oh, let me show you to the door." said the mare as she smiled at her son's marefriend, "It was a pleasure meeting you."

"Thank you, I enjoyed meeting you too." What a sweet mare Paint's mother was! As the three headed towards the door Rainbow Dash could feel as if Elisa was staring at her, but she didn't make much of it. At the door she again said farewell to the two older mares and then flew off, figuring that she should probably start looking by going to Sweet Apple Acres. After all not only did he coltfriend work there but he also lived there, so there was going to be a significantly bigger chance to find him by going there in comparison to other places.

Again the sight of decorations for the upcoming Hearts and Hooves Day made her feel sick, and just as she was about to fly even quicker so to get out of the village faster she heard Pinkie Pie's voice calling for her. "Wait for me Dashie!" she turned around and saw the pink earth pony making her way towards her by bouncing. Bouncing was pretty much Pinkie Pie's only way of moving around from one place to another.

"Hey Pinkie, what are you up to?" asked the rainbow-maned pegasus as she landed in front of her friend.

"Well all day I've been busy making decorations and putting them everywhere as you can probably see and when I came back to Sugar Cube Corner Mrs. Cake told me that you and Paint were looking for me so I thought that I should go find you so I went out again and then I found you!" Anypony who did not know Pinkie Pie long enough would probably not understand a word whenever the pink earth pony talked so fast, but Rainbow Dash was already used to it. "What are you up to?" as the pink pony asked this she smiled and squeed.

"Nothing special really, just going over to the farm."

"Can I come?!"

"Uh, I don't see why not, but don't you have those silly decorations to make?"

"I'm already done with that."

"Already? But Hearts and Hooves Day is only next weekend."

"Yeah, but you know me, when I get excited I'm really excited and then I do things really really REALLY quickly!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled and the two made their way to Sweet Apple Acres. The cyan pegasus was surprised to find Applejack still resting against the same tree she was resting against earlier in the morning, because it was now sometime around the middle of the day. She wanted to go over and ask whether she had seen Paint come back by any chance but decided not to in case the farm pony had fallen asleep. Pinkie Pie however did not consider that and got the earth pony's attention by yelling "Hey Applejack!"

Applejack woke up with a start and as a result had to catch her hat in the air because it had actually fallen off her head. After second or two she noticed her two friends and frowned playfully, "What in tarnation is the matter with ye Pinkie?" she asked as she walked over to the two.

"Just saying hello!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled and rolled her eyes before looking at Applejack. "I was wondering whether you've seen Paint by any chance."

"Actually yes, he came back jus' a few minutes ago and went straight inside before Ah could even say anythin' to him. It was a little weird now that I'm thinkin' about it."

Rainbow Dash became slightly worried as Applejack said that. "Would you mind if I went inside to see him?"

Applejack nodded, "Of course not sugar cube, what kind of a question is that?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled and went into the house followed by her two friends. They went down into the basement and were able to hear noise coming from inside Paint's little room, which indicated that he was there. The rainbow-maned mare opened the door and to her surprise saw her coltfriend taking things out of his little drawers and closet and putting them in his saddlebag. "Paint?" she asked, getting his attention. "What are you doing?"

He looked at her with a look of 'what does it look like I'm doing?' and said "I'm packing my things."

"Packin' yer things?" asked Applejack, confused, "Are ye goin' somewhere?"

Paint didn't answer her. Instead he looked at Rainbow Dash, "Look, will it be okay if I move to live with you?" There was one advantage to having parents that were not pegasi – they could not fly.

"Oooh!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie with excitement, "Are you two getting married? Can I design the cake?"

"No Pinkie, we're not getting married." He said rather impatiently as he kept shoving things into his saddlebag.

"What's the matter Paint?" asked Rainbow Dash, looking upset. It wasn't because she didn't like the idea of him moving in to live with her, but there was obviously something behind this. "Is it your mother?" Pinkie Pie and Applejack exchanged confused glances, because as far as they were concerned the last time Paint had seen his family was more than a year ago.

"Yes." His annoyance was clear in his voice.

"Look Paint, I'm sure, whatever it is that's bothering you, that you should go over to her and just talk it out with h-"

"No!" he snapped, throwing his saddlebag on the floor and turning to fully face them. "Why should I?!" his expression soon turned from one of anger to one of someone who was about to cry. "I don't _want_ to go and talk to her!" he turned away from them and walked to the back of the room before leaning against the wall with a shaky sigh.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack looked at each other for a moment before Applejack went ahead and said quietly to Rainbow Dash, "We'll be outside if ye need us." The rainbow-maned pegasus gave them a short nod and they turned to leave. When they opened the door they found Elisa standing behind it, only that they had no idea who she was. "Who the hay are ye?" asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow, "What're ye doin' in mah house?" the unicorn only mouthed a silent 'excuse me' before entering the room and closing the door behind her.

Rainbow Dash turned around and was most surprised to see Elisa there. How did she know where to find them she had no idea. The unicorn walked over to the now sobbing stallion who still had his back turned against them. She sat down next to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "It's the baby isn't it?" she asked.

"I…" he stopped to take in a heavy breath, wiping the tears from his eyes and cheeks with a hoof, "I never thought I would be so easily and quickly replaced."

"Dear, you know it's not true…" said she, her ears flat against her head.

"Please, don't bother." He looked at her, "We both know it's at least partially true." There was a short pause, "Why did you move here?" again he began to sob, "You shouldn't have came here…" now running away wasn't as easy as it was back then, and even back then it wasn't easy. Now he had friends, not to mention that he also had Rainbow Dash.

"You're talking nonsense…"

"Just leave me be okay?"

"Paint, don't cast me away like that…"

"Please, just go."

Elisa seemed to hesitate, but she knew that there was no point in arguing. "I'm always here if you want to talk." She headed for the door but he suddenly called her back. "Yes?"

He reached for his saddleback and got out an envelope. "Remember earlier today when I asked if I could write to my brother?" he handed it to her and she took it with her magic.

"Of course, I'll send it to him right away." with that she left.

Rainbow Dash continued to stand there for a few moments after Elisa had left before slowly walking over to her coltfriend. She was going to be there for him whether he thought it necessary or not. He looked at her for a moment and then rested her head on his shoulder, fighting back the tears once more. "I'm sorry for raising my voice at you like that…" he said softly, feeling really bad for the way he had lost his temper just a few moments ago.

She put a hoof on his shoulder reassuringly and gave a weak smile. "I'm here for you."

_Later that evening in Canterlot_

An adult stallion with a silver colored coat was sitting by his desk which was placed next to the fire place in his hotel room. He was busy going over a few documents when another stallion entered the room. "What is it?" asked the stallion sitting by the fire place, not taking his eyes off from what he was reading.

"Sir I received a note from your housekeeper Elisa which says that your son is in Ponyville."

At this the grey earth pony raised his eyes from his desk. "What's that supposed to mean? My son's here with me in Canterlot, he's sleeping in the bedroom behind that door." As he said that he pointed at a door.

"I meant your _other_ son." Paint's father only raised an eyebrow at that, before realizing what he had just heard. Did he smile upon hearing that his run-away sun was found? No.

"I see."

"He sent a letter to his brother, I have it right here, but you said that he's asleep no?"

"Yes, Silver went to bed about an hour ago." It was rather early but Silver had a habit of studying for really long periods of time, just like Twilight did. "Just leave it here and I'll give it to him in the morning." The letter was placed on the desk before him and then the stallion who delivered it left the room. Paint's father picked up the letter, looked at it for a few moments, before tearing it to pieces and throwing it into the fireplace.


	4. Reconciliation

"Rainbow, I really don't want to do this."

"I don't care if you wanna do this or not." was the response from the rainbow-maned pegasus as she pushed her coltfriend towards the door of his parents' house. "You are going in there to talk with your mother and clear out this retarded misunderstanding." It was now early evening. Paint's mental breakdown occurred a few hours ago, and despite having already decided to literally make him talk things out with his mother Rainbow Dash knew she better wait a while for him to calm down.

"Dash…"

"Don't 'Dash…' me, it's not going to work this time." She sighed and stopped shoving him towards the door. "Look, I can't force you to tell me why you ran away and I can't force you to go there and talk to your mother either, but I think you can't just keep yourself isolated from them now that they've moved here. If you ask me, you should go there and tell her exactly how you feel or you'll end up regretting it." There was a short pause during which he looked at her undecidedly. "Trust me."

Paint could suddenly remember how he had never met Rainbow Dash's parents or heard talk of them before, and something made him feel as if his marefriend knew what she was talking about. "Alright."

She smiled and he smiled back before walking over to the door and knocking. "You're doing the right thing."

They both expected one of the maids to the door but it was actually Paint's mother who opened it. "Hey dear!" she exclaimed, sounding cheerful as ever as she embraced the two pegasi in front of her. "Come in, come in!" before either of the two had a chance to react she had her hooves around them and pulled them both inside, kind of in the manner Pinkie Pie would have pulled them. After closing the door she smiled at them and said, "Come this way, I just made a fresh jug of tea!" she went ahead and walked down a corridor which was probably the one that led to the living room. Paint felt somewhat embarrassed. His mother was the awkward type of mother. Some of you might know what I'm talking about. Rainbow Dash only chuckled and nudged him in the shoulder before they both followed the older earth pony.

The corridor was long, which once again added to the whole picture of the house turning out to be even larger than what it appeared to be on the outside. They eventually reached the living room, which was quite big. It was already filled with furniture, very fancy furniture indeed, but despite that it was still very roomy. There were comfortable looking chairs as well as a long sofa which were located in half a circle around a fireplace. Between the chairs and the fireplace was a small table on which the jug of tea and a few cups were placed. "Sit down dears!" said the jolly mare, pouring tea into three cups before sitting down as well. The cups and the jug had big handles, which allowed anypony to simply hold it by putting his / her hoof through the handle. "Paint, you left so suddenly without saying everything earlier today that I was worried for a moment. But Rainbow Dash said that you had some work to do."

Rainbow Dash noticed the mare was looking at her and smiled, feeling rather awkward. "Yeah, uh, he did."

"You're such a dear." said the mare with a smile, causing the cyan pegasus' cheeks to turn slightly red. She looked back at her son, "I was planning to write to your father and brother to tell them that you're here, but you seem to have beaten me to it. Elisa came back a while ago with a letter to your brother which she said you've written, so I made sure to have it sent right away."

"Thanks mom." To be honest he didn't have any problem being in his mother's company at all. He never did.

Rainbow Dash meanwhile looked at the cup of tea in front of her. She sat there examining it as if it was an alien, just like she stared at almost everything in the Carousel Boutique the first time she had been there. She slowly picked it up and again stared at it as if it was something disgusting like mascara, having never tasted tea before. After a short hesitation she went ahead and slowly tasted it. It wasn't bad like she thought it would be. In fact it was quite tasty. Paint was about to say something else but didn't know how to say it. Rainbow Dash noticed and got up, "Will you excuse me for a moment? I'll be right back."

"Of course dear." said Paint's mother with a smile. Rainbow Dash placed the cup down and began to leave the room only to return after a few seconds, pick up her cup of tea again, smile apologetically and then leave, closing the living room's door behind her. Paint's mother chuckled, "What a nice girl!" she nudged her son with an elbow (or front knee, however you feel like calling it), "Didn't I always tell you you're good looking?"

"Mom…" he said nervously as he rubbed the back of his head with a hoof, feeling his cheeks turn red.

"Sorry dear, you know I can't help it." They both fell silent for a while before she noticed that her son looked a little troubled. "Is there something on your mind that's bothering you?"

Her son hesitated for a moment before taking in a deep breath, realizing that Rainbow Dash was right and that he would feel better after he had said what he had in mind. "Yes."

"Well, tell me honey; you know I'm here for you."

Again he hesitated. "It's… It's about Emerald…"

"Your baby sister?" asked his mother before smiling, "Isn't she just the cutest foal you've ever seen?"

"Yes mom, she's really cute, but that's not it…"

"Then what's wrong?" asked she, again looking concerned.

"I…" he didn't know how to say what he wanted to say. How was he going to say that he felt as if he was replaced as soon as he was gone? "Look, mom, I'm just going to go ahead and say it. You know that I haven't been too happy before I ran away." He saw her opening her mouth to say something but he cut her short, "Please mom, we both know it's true. I just can't help but… With how you became pregnant as soon as I left… I can't help but feel as if I've been replaced…"

His mother's jaw dropped. "Honey, you know it's not true! I missed you terribly; I was worried sick about you!"

Paint began feeling a little bad for saying what he had just said, because he could tell that his mother was telling him the truth. After all, she was so happy when she saw him that she cried! "I know you were mom, I know you were." There was a short pause, "But I wasn't talking about you."

His mother looked at him silently for a moment before realizing what he meant, "Oh, dear, you can't be serious…"

"I am serious mom. Let's face it. No matter how I tried I could never please him. He never once told me he loved me or even smiled in my direction."

"Is that why you ran away?" she asked, again after a pause.

"Yes…" he looked away from her with a sigh, "I just… I just couldn't handle it anymore to the point where I was sick, don't you remember?"

"Yes, I remember." A few weeks before Paint ran away he would often fall ill as a result of distress. There was even one time where he was seriously ill to the point where it concerned the doctors. "Honey, I'm so sorry… I can't believe I've never noticed that you were so unhappy…"

"I don't blame you mom, I know how much you love dad." It can actually be emphasized into saying that Paint would have been the happiest pony alive if he could have had just one percent of the affection his father always gave to his mother. His father was a caring husband as well as a loving father to his brother, but never to Paint himself.

"I'm sure he'll be more than happy to find out we found you again."

"Do you really think so?" he asked, not sounding too confident in what his mother had just said. He was about to ask whether his father missed him, but felt as if he shouldn't for the sake of his own fragile mental condition.

"Of course he will! And your brother will be so delighted that he'll drop everything and come to see you as soon as he finds out you're here!"

"Mom, isn't Silver always busy studying?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you were always more important to him than anything else in the entire world! If only you had seen how upset he was when you were gone!"

Paint's ears flattened against his head. He knew that he could believe _that_. "I know…" His mother smiled and embraced her son. "I'm sorry mom… I'm sorry I just ran away like that without even saying goodbye…"

"Oh, it's okay dear, we're back together now." There was silence after that and the hug ended after a few moments. While Paint was feeling a lot better like Rainbow Dash expected, he was still a little upset. Everything seemed great now, but he was quite apprehensive about how everything will look once his father and brother moved there from Canterlot. Rainbow Dash re-entered the room after a few more moments. Paint figured that she was waiting for him to finish talking with his mother so to not interrupt their conversation. Once she was sure that the "hard" part of the conversation was over she went ahead and came back into the room, and she was happy to see that Paint really was feeling better than he was before. The rainbow-maned pegasus went ahead and sat down on the chair closest to the one her coltfriend was sitting on. Paint's mother smiled at them, "Aren't you two the cutest couple!"

The two pegasi's cheeks again turned red. "Mom…"

"Sorry, sorry!" she said, chuckling. "I guess that's why you came here then? To talk to me?"

"Pretty much…" he felt like he should give his marefriend the credit she deserved, "Well, Rainbow Dash was the one who encouraged me to come… I didn't really want to but she convinced me that I should."

"Aw, that's just so sweet of you!"

"It's the least I could have done ma'am…" said Rainbow Dash with a somewhat timid smile, because being around her coltfriend's mother was quite weird.

Paint had his saddlebag on him, and it was still packed with all of his belongings. His mother noticed the saddlebag he was carrying and became confused. "Are you going anywhere?"

Paint became a little nervous and didn't know what to say, because it actually seemed as if he was about to run away again. Rainbow Dash went ahead and said, "Oh, it's nothing ma'am, he's… He's moving in to live with me."

"Oh." She smiled, "That's just wonderful!" Paint only looked at Rainbow Dash with a look of 'I am?', but he had to admit that it was a pretty nice save. "How long have you two been together?"

"Six months." said Paint.

"Six months!" exclaimed the older mare in delight.

"Yes mom…" he said with a sigh, feeling rather embarrassed by her.

"Sorry, sorry!" she looked at Rainbow Dash, "Where do you live?" she looked concerned for a moment, "Not far away right?"

"Oh, no," said Rainbow Dash, "it's located right above us; you'll be able to see your son every day."

"Oh, that's just grea- wait, above us? Oh! Right! Pegasi live on the clouds, how could I have forgotten that!" she chuckled, "Silly me!" She looked outside the window and noticed that it was getting quite dark outside. "It's getting quite late. How time flies from time to time!"

"Yes mom, it does." Said Paint with a chuckle, "I guess we should head off now."

"Of course dear, of course." They all got up and she hugged him again, "Promise me you'll come see me again tomorrow."

"Of course I will mom." said he with a smile.

"Do you need me to show you to the door?"

"No mom, we'll be fine." His mother smiled at them once more before leaving the living room. Paint looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile. "You were right; I do feel better, thanks."

"See? I told you it was nothing but a misunderstanding." She chuckled and walked over to him, "This only shows that you should listen to me more often."

"Yes, looks like I should." He grinned and nuzzled her, causing her to giggle. "It really is getting late, we should probably get going."

"Yeah, probably." She played with his mane with one of her hooves, chuckling. "I bet I'll get there before you do."

Paint raised an eyebrow, "Get to where?"

Rainbow Dash giggled again. His clueless expression was always amusing. "My house."

"Oh, I forgot…" he smiled, "You know, living together sounds like it's going to be great. We'll be able to see each other much more often."

"What about Sweet Apple Acres?"

"I told Applejack I'll still come help them out from time to time. It's the only way I can repay them for all they've done for me until now." He would also need to find an actual job in order to pass his time with and in order to make some money.

"Well, we should hurry."

"Hurry?"

"Yeah…" she said, looking at him in the eyes, "You know, so that you can… settle in…"

Paint stared at her for a few moments before realizing what she was saying. "Oh, settle in…" he smiled at her and she smiled back at him.

Their moment was interrupted when the voice of Paint's mother reached them from the other room. "Make sure you use protection!"

Paint facehoofed.

The two pegasi arrived at the door of Rainbow Dash's cloud house later that evening. Paint was still feeling extremely embarrassed because of what his mother had said just before they left. "Look, uh… I'm really sorry about my mom being… Well… embarrassing in every possible aspect of the word."

Rainbow Dash chuckled as she opened the door and they both walked inside. "Don't worry about it." Sure, it was probably the most embarrassing situation in the entire universe, but that was already part of the past. "I like your mom, she's so nice."

Paint sighed as he closed the door of the house after entering, "I know, but sometimes I wish she would be less awkward…"

"Why don't you take off that saddlebag already? I'm getting tired just by looking at you carry it."

"Where can I put it?" even though he didn't have many belongings, it still felt great to finally take that thing off his back.

"Wherever you want, just don't leave it on the floor. I think the bedroom will do." She shot a wink in his direction which caused him to laugh nervously, but he went ahead and listened to his marefriend anyway.

He had been in her home a few times and therefore had already seen it before, but everytime he was there it amazed him how everything was made out of clouds, even the furniture! The stallion smiled as he entered the bedroom and saw Rainbow Dash's pet turtle lying on the floor. The first time he was there he was quite confused about how was the turtle able to live in a house that was made entirely of clouds without falling down, and Rainbow Dash explained that Twilight found a way to put her cloud-walking spell on Tank's food. Rainbow Dash would often take him down so that he could walk around a little rather than sit on clouds all day long. The blue stallion liked the turtle, because anypony had to admit that he was adorable. More importantly Tank didn't seem to dislike him, so all was well and peaceful.

Rainbow Dash entered the room after a few moments. She flew over to Tank and picked him up with a smile, "I just noticed that your water bowl was empty so I filled it up." She rubbed her nose against the turtle's for a few seconds and then carried him outside, probably so to help him quench his thirst faster and to save him the walk. Paint couldn't help but smile whenever he saw her with her pet. The cyan mare returned after a few moments and closed the door behind her. "You know, your mother's really happy to have you back now."

"I know she is." He said, nuzzling her as she sat down beside him. "I couldn't help but notice that you came back into the living room as soon as we were done talking though…"

"Okay, I kind of listened…" her ears flattened against her head, "I'm sorry, it's just that I couldn't bear not knowing anything about your past, especially now that your family moved into Ponyville…"

"I'm not angry Rainbow. Besides, now you know why I ran away." he sighed, "My father hates me."

"I'm sure you're overreacting…" she said, rather hopefully.

"Trust me. You'll see, when he and my brother move here in a few weeks I'm quite sure you'll dislike him." He chuckled, causing her to smile.

"See; it's not all that bad. You'll see your brother again soon." She licked him on the cheek once before walking over to her bed, "You can put your bag here in the corner so that we can unpack it in the morning."

Paint placed he saddlebag in the corner like he was told before looking around. "Rainbow, where am I supposed to sleep?" he turned to face her and saw that she had already climbed into bed.

"Here, with me." She said, letting out a fake yawn and looking at him with a smile.

"Oh…" he went ahead and lay down beside her, but something was telling him that they weren't going to go to sleep anytime soon.

**A/N: Sorry about having Paint's mom shout that last one right before Paint and Rainbow Dash left, I just thought it would be funny and I felt like I had to do it. Thanks again to those of you who follow and review!**


	5. One Week Later

It has been one week since Paint's mother and baby sister moved into Ponyville and all was well, much to Rainbow Dash's relief and to Paint's surprise. At first he thought that his life was going to take a bad turn now that his family was moving into where he now lived, but that was not the case. Seeing his mother again made him realize how much he had missed her and his older brother, who he was quite eager to hear from. Despite having written to his older brother a week ago he still haven't heard from him, which made Paint upset and even a little depressed whenever he tried to think of what could have prevented his brother from coming to see him or at least writing back to him. He never stayed dispirited for too long though thanks to those who were there to help lighten up his mood. His mother and Elisa would cheer him up by saying that Silver was probably very busy, which had a certain effect even though they all doubted that Silver was _that_ busy as to the point where he didn't have time to write a single letter. And Rainbow Dash, well, she didn't really need to say anything in order to get him to smile. Just her very presence was enough to make him feel better.

So now his mother had her son back and he moved in to live with the mare he so dearly loved and the only thing that wasn't good about the whole situation was that his father was to soon move into Ponyville as well, but thanks to Rainbow Dash he decided to look at the bright side of things and to not let just the very thought of seeing his father cause him even the slightest bit of discomfort. He went to see his mother everyday like he promised he would and Rainbow Dash would often accompany him. The rainbow maned mare thought that his baby sister Emerald was the cutest thing alive, but Paint avoided all sort of conversation about the foal and whenever he and his marefriend were at his mother's house he never went to see his little sister. Nopony became curious and asked why, so he didn't have to be creative with his excuses and sayings like 'I need to use the restroom' did the trick. Maybe their lack of notice to how he avoided anything related to his sister was the result of being busy with how cute she was.

Living in the same house with Rainbow Dash was literally fantastic. Being a pegasus, Paint now felt like he physically was where he belonged; up in the clouds. He felt like he was where he belonged also because he was with Rainbow Dash a lot more often; they woke up every morning to find the other still there next to them inside the warm bed and since they now lived inside the same house they naturally saw each other a lot more frequently, something which they were both quite pleased of. The first night of them sleeping under the same roof was… quite an interesting night to say the least. Paint remembered waking up the next morning to find his marefriend still sleeping close to him with a happy smile on her face, and seeing her so happy and peaceful made him happy as well. Just when they both thought that their reality couldn't get better, it did. (Back to the present in other words)

Rainbow Dash was 'busy' dozing off and daydreaming on a cloud. Napping was her main way to pass the time when her friends were busy and she had nothing else to do. She once used to spend a lot more time on practicing in case some opportunity to make it into the Wonderbolts presented itself, but ever since she had managed to perform a Sonic Rainboom on command she found those practices less necessary and spent less time on them. Paint said he wanted to go into Ponyville in order to see something, and she would have gone with him if it weren't for the fact that Hearts and Hooves Day was to take place tomorrow. This meant that Ponyville was even pinker and sappier than it was a week ago, which was why she said she'd see him later and stayed on the cloud she was now on in order for the town to be below her and well hidden by the cloud. She was quite relieved when Paint didn't insist on them going to the festival that was to take place, because she was quite certain that she will not be able to mentally deal with being in Ponyville tomorrow.

Things have been quite different since the first night they had spent together, but different in a good way. They acted differently around each other and were even more concerned about the other's wellbeing than they were before, even if there never really were any life threatening events that occurred in Ponyville. Well, there was Night Mare Moon almost burning down the entire village about half a year ago, but they were both certain that something like that was not going to happen again anytime soon. It was only natural for them to feel closer after what has happened.

The rainbow maned pegasus' nap was interrupted when she heard an excited and familiar voice call her name from below her. At first she thought it was Pinkie Pie, because only the pink earth pony had to capability of saying her name so many times and so quickly, but after getting up and walking over to the edge of the cloud she noticed that it was her number one fan and the leader of her fan club Scootaloo. "Rainbow Dash, you won't believe it! This is probably the most amazing thing ever!"

"Calm down pipsqueak," said the cyan pegasus, descending down towards the town despite the fact that the very sight of it at the moment made her feel sick. "What got you so excited?"

"Well I thought that as the most incredible young flyer ever you'll already know but then I realized that you didn't because you obviously haven't been into town lately because of Hearts and Hooves Day and then I decided I'll tell you myself and-"

"Wow, hey, calm down, you sound way too much like Pinkie Pie." In all honesty she liked Scootaloo, despite the fact that the little filly's over excitement when Rainbow Dash was around could get a little annoying after a while. Let's face it; Scootaloo's adorable. Foals in general are adorable. The largeness of their eyes in comparison to the small size of their heads is just impossible to ignore. It has been scientifically proved that big eyes trigger affection, which is why all sorts of beings are considered cuter when they're little in comparison to when they are grown up. That's why there's a term called 'puppy dog face'. In addition there's also the fact that they're tinier and have squeakier voices. They provoke the cuddly instinct that resides in the hearts of us all. "So what's the matter?" asked the rainbow maned pegasus with a chuckle, using a hoof to ruffle the little filly's purple mane.

"I was just by the bulletin board and you won't believe what I saw!"

"Try me, what did you see?"

"A Wonderbolts' poster! They're having open tryouts for the team in exactly one week from now!"

"What?" she looked at the little orange pegasus in front of her, trying to determine whether she was serious. "Are you serious?!"

"Yes! I saw it just a minute ago!"

"No way!" the cyan pegasus was soon flying in full speed towards the bulletin board, ignoring the pink decorations in the shapes of hearts. As Rainbow Dash neared the board she noticed that it was surrounded by a group of other ponies, mostly pegasi. "Best young flyer coming through, make some room!" she had to push her way through the crowd, which was a little more difficult than what she thought it would be, but eventually she managed to catch sight of the poster Scootaloo mentioned and let out a squeal. It really did mention open tryouts, and the date stated on the poster was really just a week away. "Omigosh omigosh omigosh!" This was what she has been waiting for ever since seeing the Wonderbolts perform for the first time, and it couldn't have came in better timing. She was in excellent shape, she was fast, she was awesome, she had pretty much everything that she was going to need in order to pass those tryouts and be one of the best flyers on the team. There was nothing, as far as she knew at least, that was going to mess things up for her. She will finally be able to live her dream and quit that extremely boring weather job.

Feeling as happy as she could possibly feel she shot into the sky in full speed, flying straight towards her house. She flew inside and went straight to her pet turtle, who was the only living being there at the moment and therefore the only one she could go to in order to release her enthusiasm. The turtle seemed rather uncomfortable by the way she talked loudly and incomprehensibly while hugging him really hard to the point where he was really happy about having his shell, even if it was making him really slow. Before she got Tank Rainbow Dash didn't really understand why people kept pets or why they even bothered talking to their pets, who could not answer them and probably couldn't understand a word either, but she had the feeling as if Tank understood everything she said even if he couldn't really communicate with her. In fact maybe it was his lack of ability to respond which turned talking to him into such a stress relieving thing from time to time. He couldn't argue or tell her that she was wrong; he would just stare and listen.

After chattering with Tank for what must have been a really long time she placed the turtle back on the floor and began walking around her bedroom in circles while talking to herself. At some point she heard somepony walk in through the door and close it before her coltfriend's voice reached her ears. "Dash, you home? I have some great news!" She smiled and flew straight into the living room, tackling the surprised stallion to the ground and standing on top of him. "Should I be excited about where this might be going?"

Rainbow Dash giggled but shook her head, "No," she went ahead and kissed him briefly anyway. "I was just in town and you won't believe what I saw!"

"You were in town?" he asked with a chuckle, "Did you throw up?" he saw her rolling her eyes and chuckled once more, "I have some great news."

Rainbow Dash decided to hear what he had to say first because whatever it was there was no chance his news would be more exciting than hers, so she might as well save the best for last. "Okay, you go first."

"I happened to pass by the school after seeing my mother and Cheerilee came over and talked to me. She asked me whether I would like to help her in the school!"

"Really? You got a job as a teacher assistant?" she knew that Paint wanted to find a job so that he could finally earn some money and help her with the expenses on the house and on groceries, and she also knew how much Paint loved kids.

"Yes! This is like the best job I could have hoped to find!"

"That's fantastic! I'm really happy for you!" she giggled as he embraced and pulled her closer, happily kissing him once more. "So when are you starting?"

"Next week." he said as he held her even closer. "Everything's terrific. You know, I was a little worried about how things are going to be because mother moved here and because my father will be here in a few weeks, but everything's perfect."

"I told you there's nothing to worry about and that things were going to work out."

"You did." he smiled and happily rubbed his nose against hers, "Thank you for being here for me." They both continued to lie there and nuzzle each other in silence for a few more moments before Paint suddenly remembered that Rainbow Dash also had something she wanted to tell him. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh!" She was so happy for her coltfriend that it had actually slipped her mind for a moment back there. "Yeah! I was in town and you won't believe what I saw!"

"Okay then, what did you see?"

"A poster!"

"A poster?"

"A Wonderbolts poster! There will be open tryouts next week!"

"Tryouts?" he asked, she nodded excitedly, "For the Wonderbolts?" she nodded again. "Dash, that's great!"

"I know!" she flew into the air excitedly, finally allowing her coltfriend to stand up, "Now I can truly show them my stuff!"

"Why, I'm sure you'll make it into the team without a problem!"

"Of course I will! I mean, I'm amazing!" She landed back down after a few moments and they hugged. "Things just can't get any better can they?"

"I don't think so." said her coltfriend, "But I won't mind it if things actually do get better."

"No, of course not." She chuckled and looked him in the eyes. "This calls for some sort of a celebration."

He looked at her for a few moments. "What sort of celebration?" they continued to stare at each other for a few more seconds. "Oh… But Dash, it's barely afternoon."

His marefriend only giggled. "Shut up."

_In Canterlot_

Paint's father was sitting by his desk in the hotel room and reading some documents (business-related documents like bills, reports, etc.) when his eldest son Silver walked into the room, carrying a saddlebag which was most likely filled with books, scrolls and quills. "Hey dad."

"Hey son," replied the father, smiling a smile that was filled with fatherly affection, "I see you came back from the library quite earlier than usual." His son was taking advantage of the fact that they were in Canterlot in order to use the royal library for his studies, the very library which Twilight snuck into back during the whole mess with her future self. While closed and guarded heavily at night, it was open during the day and as long as you don't cause any trouble the guards allow you to enter.

"Yeah, I need a certain book and it's not there." Now, reader, you must be thinking that Paint's brother doesn't care for him as much as Paint thinks he does because he hasn't even written to him, but you're mistaken. The only reason he hasn't written to Paint or went to see him was because he had no idea that that his little brother had been found.

"It's not there?" asked the older stallion, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "But it's such a big library." Silver and his father were quite a living image of each other. Unless one took a really close look, which would reveal the results of age differences, they might be mistaken them for twins.

"I know, but I've searched everywhere and I couldn't find it." He removed his saddlebag and placed it in the corner. "I met Princess Celestia again."

"You did? I mean I know you said that she and her sister sometime spend time there but that's like the fourth or fifth time."

"Well, yeah. She remembered seeing me there a few times so she took quite an interest in me. She said I remind her of a student of hers."

"I never imagined that there's somepony who studies as hard as you do."

Silver cleared his throat, "Anyway, that's how I know that they don't have the book I was looking for. I asked her, and who knows the library better than she does?" there was a short pause, "Oh yeah, that's also why I'm going to Ponyville tomorrow."

His father seemed to tense a little, "To Ponyville? What do you have to do there?"

"Well, the princess wrote a note which she said was addressed to the pony who runs the library there, and the answer that came said that there's a copy of the book I'm looking for there." There was a short pause, "I figured I could also drop by and say hi to mom, see how everything is going."

"Oh, but you know what your mother thinks. She wants you to stay focused on your studies and not waste time by coming over, especially considering the fact that we'll move and live with her again soon." The main reason for his objection was because of the risk of Silver finding out that his brother was in Ponyville. Yes, Silver will find out eventually but as long as his father could continue with his life as if his younger son was still lost, the better in his opinion.

Silver chuckled, "I'm pretty sure I can find some time to see my mother. Besides I haven't seen Emerald since after her birth."

"Oh, but your mother insists. You know how she can be when you get on her bad side."

His son rolled his eyes, "Fine, if she insists." He chuckled, "I guess I'll just see them when we move."

The father's relief at that was well-hidden. "You know, I've been thinking about something." He got up from his chair and walked over to his son. "It's Hearts and Hooves Day tomorrow and what you have in plan is to go to a library." Placing a hoof on his shoulder and grinning, he continued, "You know, there's much more to the life of a stallion like yourself than studying."

Silver sighed a sigh of slight annoyance, "Dad, we've been over this. You _and_ mom need to cut it out, alright? I already told you both that I will date somepony when I meet somepony I wanna date." Silver was handsome and good looking, and he caught the attention of mares before but nothing ever came out of it. "I need a table so I'll be in the bedroom if you need me." He said as he picked up his saddlebag and headed towards the bedroom's door.

"Okay. Remember your promise though, you go to the library tomorrow and then straight back here, you don't want to anger your mother." In every letter his spouse had written to him last week she had asked why Silver hasn't written to his brother yet, and Paint's father always wrote back saying that Silver was busy with his studies. But in all honesty he didn't tell Silver about his younger brother, and he had no intention of doing so anytime soon.

"Yes dad, I keep up my promises."

**A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter. I want to thank those of you who review; it inspires me to keep writing. (I mean, I'll never abandon a story unfinished, but I still appreciate it).**

**To ShiningShadow1965, remember the last conversation we had in private messages? If not go back and look at it. I told you that I was going to go with what I have in mind, and there you have it.**


	6. Hearts and Hooves Day

Hearts and Hooves Day - the pony world's version of what we call Valentine's Day - was and will probably always be the most anticipated holiday in all of Equestria despite it not being a traditionally-based holiday like the Summer Sun Celebration. The Summer Sun Celebration is an occasion which is naturally one you expect to be more looked-forward to due to the whole idea of staying up all night and then witnessing Princess Celestia raise the sun, but the fact that it took place in a different location every year meant that some ponies got to enjoy the true spirit of the event while others, pretty much every other pony that lived in other parts of Equestria, did not. Maybe this was the reason why Hearts and Hooves day was a more popular holiday (not that the Summer Sun Celebration was not). In addition, Hearts and Hooves Day was a holiday which was meant to be spent with your most special one, which presented it in an even more positive light in the eyes of those who couldn't stay away from their partners in romance for too long. Why did ponies see a date during Hearts and Hooves Day any different and more special from a date during any other regular day? I have obviously no idea whatsoever. Maybe it's the fact that Hearts and Hooves Day is a holiday dedicated entirely for love which made it all that extraordinary. Maybe it's the result of knowing that couples all over the land are also spending time with their loved ones just like you are. Maybe it's both. I don't know. Really. I'm not the person who can provide explanations for that sort of thing.

The population during Hearts and Hooves day can be split into two main parts; those who were in a relationship and had plans for the occasion and those who didn't. There was also a very small and rather insignificant third group of those who felt sick just at the very thought or mention of the holiday. The second group can be divided into two subgroups; those who weren't looking for a romantic relationship with anypony at the moment and those who were. Twilight Sparkle, you can say, belonged to the second subgroup. It's not that she was feeling completely lonely and felt as if her life was going nowhere, because she had her friends, her studies and her duty to run the library. She also had something to look forward to; Cadence had been pregnant for a year now and her foal or foals could be born at literally any minute now (You didn't think I forgot about that, did you?). She was quite eager to become an aunt but she mostly wanted for the whole pregnancy thing to be over with because of the dangers that came with giving birth. Being somepony who sometimes tended to lose her mind because of silly things, Twilight had already imagined a few worse-case-scenarios that might take place once her brother's foal was born; such as a birth complication or even worse. The odds for things like that to happen weren't very high, but that didn't make the unicorn any less nervous.

It's true that's Twilight's life was not a boring one at all, yet she couldn't help but feel as if trying to start dating was a good idea. It probably wouldn't surprise you if I told you that the unicorn mare had never gone out with anypony before. It had nothing to do with her looks; Twilight was good looking, it was mostly because of the fact that she was either spending her time in the library or spending her time surrounded by her friends. She also never really tried starting a conversation with a stallion who she took a liking in because she was always nervous. "Spike? Spiiiiiiiiike!" she called, looking around the library for the little baby dragon.

"What is it Twilight?" came the voice of the purple dragon who soon came downstairs with a pile of books. The most annoying thing about Twilight's reading obsession was that she never returned her books back to where she had taken them from or read one of them at a time. Now usually she read downstairs, but it became even harder to keep up with the studious unicorn whenever she decided to do her studying upstairs, because the major part of her books were located downstairs and therefore he often had to carry them from the top floor back to their original places on the shelves.

"Did Shining Armor answer my letter?" she asked, sounding somewhat worried.

"You mean the one you wrote just this morning?" asked Spike sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Yes, and I quote; "Cadence is fine Twilight, just like she had been when you sent those thirteen other letters yesterday." He placed the books he was carrying on the table in front of Twilight and sighed, "Y'know, I kind of have to agree with the way he answered you this time. I mean we both know that you're just being worried but it gets annoying at some point, especially for me because I'm the one who literally delivers all of his answers."

"Sorry Spike, you know I'm just worried about Cadence."

"Yes, I just said that."

"Maybe I should go over and see how she's doing?"

"I don't think you have to do that. Aside from those thirteen letters yesterday you also teleported yourself to Canterlot, remember? And _I _had to deal with the headaches you got from using the teleporting spell twice in order to also get back here."

"Sorry Spike." She paused for a moment, looking at the baby dragon in front of her with a clear lack of awareness. "Do you think I worry too much?"

Spike facepawed. Yes, usually we hear the term 'facehoof' because of the basic fact that ponies have hooves. Dragons however have paws. How wonderful it is to have fingers and to be able to hold things! Imagine how earth ponies and pegasi get jealous of Spike because he can actually hold stuff without the use of his mouth! "Yes Twilight, I think you worry way too much." He couldn't believe that she had actually asked him that question, because it was quite obvious that Twilight needed to calm down before she somehow ended up harming her mental health again.

"Yeah, I guess I should stop being so annoying…" she said, smiling sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

"Anyways…" continued Spike, picking up his books and returning to the tiring chore of putting books in the exact place where they belonged while Twilight went over to another shelf and took out yet another book to read from, causing the dragon to sigh in defeat.

Some time was passed quietly in this manner, with Twilight reading from her book and Spike climbing the ladder again and again in order to reach the higher shelves. Was it just in the baby dragon's mind, or did Twilight also have a bad habit of picking the books she wanted to read only from the highest shelves? A few minutes, perhaps, went by before the library's door opened and Paint walked inside. "Hey Twilight, hey Spike." He said with a cheerful smile as he closed the door behind him.

"Hey Paint, what's going on?" asked Twilight, raising her eyes from her book. "No plans for today?" she chuckled.

Paint also chuckled, "Of course not. You know Rainbow Dash would rather throw up than be here today." There was a short silence, "Anyway since I won't be doing anything today I decided I could go help at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Sounds fun."

"Not my ideal way to spend the day, I admit, but if I'm there to help then Big Macintosh can take the day off and spend Hearts and Hooves Day with Fluttershy."

"Aw, well I'm sure he appreciates it." Everypony had to admit that Fluttershy and Big Macintosh were the cutest couple ever. The only one who didn't seem happy about them being together was Angel, but then again the sassy rabbit took a liking in almost nothing. "So how's everything going?" It didn't take too long for all of Rainbow Dash's friend to hear about the entire mess caused by the fact that Paint's family was moving into Ponyville, and they were all happy that things were going well in that regard. Paint invited them once to come over and meet his mother and they immediately took a liking in the kind and talkative mare, who was more than happy to see that her son had plenty of friends. They too believed that Emerald was the most adorable baby they have seen for a long time but Paint, again, avoided conversation or interaction when it came to his little sister.

"Everything's great." The only thing that wasn't great was the fact that he still hasn't heard from his older brother. "Anyway, the reason I came by was because Applejack said something about you not using all the apples you bought?"

"Oh yeah, I decided to try and make pie." Just for the record, her attempt was nothing but a pitiful failure. I'm so mean. "I have some left so I figured I could just give them back since I don't need them. Can you take them with you?"

"Sure, I have plenty of room in my saddlebag."

"Okay then. Come with me this way to the kitchen, I'll give them too you."

"Cool."

The two ponies left the room and went into the kitchen, and just as they disappeared the door of the library open and Silver entered. Well that really stinks does it not? Couldn't he enter just a few seconds earlier, before his younger brother had left the room? "Is anypony here?" asked the silver-coated stallion as he looked around. The door was open, which meant that meant that the library was open, right?

Spike, who had just finished putting the last book in place, noticed the stallion and came down from the ladder. "Hey there, how can I help you?" the stallion looked at the little dragon for a short moment. "What? Didn't know dragons could talk huh?" asked Spike with a boastful grin.

"Actually I did." said the educated earth pony, much to Spike's disappointment. "I just never thought I'd ever get to see a baby dragon."

"Well well well, I'm quite the fine example then." said the baby dragon as he kissed his own arm muscle.

Silver chuckled, "You're a funny little guy aren't you?"

"The finest example!"

"Anyways, I wanted to ask whether you could help me find a book."

"Sure." With how he always had to put books back into place, Spike knew the library quite well. "Which one?"

Silver told Spike the name of the book he was looking for and the two headed upstairs in order to get it. As soon as they were up stairs and out of sight, Twilight and Paint returned from the kitchen. "Thanks Twilight." Said the blue pegasus, "I'll see you later I guess."

"Bye." She said, smiling at him as he left and closed the door behind him. How close he was to seeing his brother! They had missed each other by the second twice already, what were the odds? "Spike?" she thought she heard somepony talking just before coming back from the kitchen. "Where did you go?"

"I'm up here Twilight!"

"Is there somepony there with you? I'm pretty sure I heard talking." It was kind of odd for anypony to come to a library, especially during Hearts and Hooves Day. In fact Twilight thought that she was the only pony who ever did that.

"Yeah."

Well, she might as well be polite and go say hello to whoever it was. Besides, she was also curious to see what pony actually came to her library during Hearts and Hooves Day. As far as she knew the ponies in Ponyville, none of them were too interested in books, especially not to the point of spending Hearts and Hooves Day in a library. She entered the room on the second floor and saw a handsome stallion who was trying to support the ladder Spike was climbing on, which seemed as if it was about to collapse. "I got it, I think." said Silver, looking up at the little dragon.

"Okay, here I go…" the little purple dragon hesitantly climbed another step of the ladder, but unfortunately at that moment the pony in whom he had placed his trust to keep the ladder steady noticed Twilight and forgot to keep the ladder from wobbling, which resulted in it falling down along with Spike. "I…" he raised his head from the floor, his eyes spinning from dizziness. "I think I'm okay…" after saying that his head dropped back down to the floor.

As if forgetting that the baby dragon even existed, the two ponies stood there and simply stared at each other. Twilight experienced that same lack of capability of speaking like she did whenever she looked at somepony who she thought was cute. Not only was the stallion in front of her handsome, but the fact that he was there during Hearts and Hooves Day meant that he was quite interested in books. And that he was single. Silver, while being a very confident pony who did not lack any social skills at all, never really found himself in a situation like this and therefore didn't know what to do. The unicorn he was facing was really beautiful in his eyes, and soon the whole reason why he came to the library in the first place disappeared from his mind. "Uh…" he began, after a long moment of them just staring at each other, "I…" he looked around, noticing the poor and forgotten Spike who was still unconscious on the floor, "I dropped your baby dragon…" what a way to start a conversation! But to be honest that was all he could come up with. "Sorry…"

Now that he had spoken to her, Twilight didn't really have too much of a choice but to answer. "Oh, it's, uh… no problem, he's fine…" after that they both fell silent again. Twilight felt as if this was the most embarrassing moment in her entire life. Knowing that Silver was just as embarrassed as she was might have made her feel less embarrassed, but she was too embarrassed to notice that he too was embarrassed. How ironic. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Twilight…" he repeated her name, savoring every moment of it, "I'm Silver."

Wait. Pause. Now you're probably thinking that Twilight will say "hey, my friend Paint has an older brother named Silver who's supposed to move into Ponyville soon, is that you?" but I'm going to have to disappoint you yet again. Having never mentioned the name of his brother to anypony, the only one who knew that the name of Paint's older brother was Silver was Rainbow Dash who just happened to be there when the name was mentioned. I'm sorry; please don't throw tomatoes at me.

As the conversation progressed the two ponies found it easier and easier to talk with each other. "It's nice to meet you Silver."

The usually talkative stallion soon regained all of his confident. "It's _lovely_ to meet you." he said, smiling at her.

"So, uh…" said Twilight, again becoming a little nervous, "Can I help you find anything?"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." He then told her the name of the book he was looking for and she quickly brought it over with her magic.

"Wait, you're that pony the princess wrote to me about right?" she remembered by the name of the book that was mentioned on the note she Princess Celestia had written.

"Yes." said the stallion with a rather flirtatious grin. "That's me."

Twilight looked at the book she was holding with her magic and was quite impressed. She began asking him questions about what was he studying at the moments and what he had studied in the past, and he was also quite interested in what she had to tell about her own progress. You can say that there was chemistry between them. Twilight soon found herself a lot less nervous around Silver, despite her thinking that he was really cute, and being able to talk to him freely felt really great. They compared their opinions of books they've read in the past and even went over certain parts of some of them, thus creating even more work for Spike. Poor guy.

"Hmm… I guess that perhaps looking at it from _that_ point of view does make things a lot more clear." Said the stallion at some point with a thoughtful expression as they both bent over some book nopony but them has ever heard of.

"I know, it took me forever to figure this out!"

Despite how fun it was to have that kind of a conversation with somepony who shared their love for studying, the two soon found themselves less and less focused on the books. "So… It's Hearts and Hooves Day, and… I'll just say it; I like you and I would love to get to know you better." He closed the book and looked at Twilight with a flirtatious smile.

Twilight also wanted to get to know Silver better, but she most certainly did not expect him to ask her out so soon after they've met. Well, of course she was hoping that he would ask her out, but she thought that it would take some time, if at all. "Really?" she blushed, he nodded at her and she giggled, "I'd love to. Uh… Then it's a date, I think… Is that what you say?"

"Yes."

"Then yeah, it's a date."

Feeling like the luckiest stallion that ever lived, Silver jumped once in the air. "Sweet!" he smiled at her sheepishly and cleared his throat. "I mean… Since it's Hearts and Hooves Day today, I was thinking that finding some lunch wouldn't be a problem. Like, right now." It was already noon by that time.

"Yes!" exclaimed the unicorn mare excitedly, before also clearing her throat and forcing herself to calm down. "I mean… I would love that."

The two happy ponies then left the library, leaving the _still_ unconscious Spike to wake up to find yet another mess waiting to be cleaned up.


	7. Unexpected News

Rainbow Dash, as was mentioned at least a few times before, became sick at the very sight of any Hearts and Hooves day decorations or at the very sight and mention of anything else that what related to the holiday. The only time where she could look at those pink pieces of carton is when they are being removed, just like how they were being removed as she walked through Ponyville. It was already late afternoon, and the Hearts and Hooves Day festival was already over. Most shops and businesses that were usually closed during Hearts and Hooves Day were now open again, giving the town the normal and not-sappy appearance which the rainbow-maned mare liked and was used to. "Oh well," she thought to herself as she watched the village become less and less pink and more, well, normal, as she liked to call it, "looks like I'll have to hold my vomit off until next year." It's not that the pegasus completely detested the whole idea of romance; after all she and Paint had been together for half a year now, but the whole idea of going out to be surrounded by other couples or displaying affection while being surrounded by anypony else just didn't appeal to her.

If it were up to her she would have stayed home and slept in until Paint returned from the farm, but even during Hearts and Hooves day there was weather to take care of. Pfft, moving clouds. Was there any job more boring that than? But soon she wouldn't need to work as a weather pegasus anymore, soon she will finally take her rightful and respectful place as one of the Wonderbolts. The tryouts were to take place in 6 days from now, and after taking care of the weather she decided to practice a little bit since she had nothing else to do anyway (she practiced away from Ponyville, obviously, because of Hearts and Hooves Day and, in addition, she decided to avoid risking breaking anypony's property, even if she was absolutely certain of her awesomeness and was hardly messing up anything during practices anymore). And to think that if it hadn't been for Scootaloo who informed her she would have never seen the information posters about the upcoming trials. Missing such a rare and amazing opportunity just because Rainbow Dash hated being in Ponyville during Hearts and Hooves Day would have probably sucked, so she figured that she really needed to find an opportunity to thank the little filly for drawing her attention to the upcoming tryouts.

In fact, Rainbow Dash was so pleased at watching the decorations as they were removed that she decided to not just fly straight to her home like she usually did but to walk through the village until she was below her house and then fly up there. She passed by the large house where Paint's family was staying, except for his brother and father for the time being of course, when she heard somepony call her name. She looked in the direction of the house and saw Elisa standing inside by one of and waving for her to come over. While she found it slightly confusing, she went ahead and flew over to the window. "Hey, what's up?" she asked with her usual smile before noticing that the unicorn she was facing looked a little upset.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Oh, of course, is something wrong?"

"I know it might be a bit peculiar, but I need you to take Paint's mother to the hospital." Yes, the hospital, being a hospital, was open all the time, even during Hearts and Hooves Day.

"To the hospital?" asked the rainbow-maned pegasus, becoming a little worried as well as confused. "Why, what happened?" Despite having known her coltfriend's mother for just a week she already felt very close to the older mare. "Did she fall down the stairs?"

"What? Of course not, she's just feeling a little unwell is all."

"Oh, that's good to hear." said Rainbow Dash with a sigh of relief, "I mean, it's not good to hear that she's sick… It's just that when I saw her yesterday she seemed perfectly fine so I thought that something bad happened." There was a short pause, "Wait, so what you're saying is that she just has a little fever? I think you're over reacting, everypony gets a fever from time to time."

Elisa shook her head, "She's been randomly having fevers ever since Emerald was born three weeks ago, but every time it lasted a bit more than before and I'm starting to get worried…"

"I had no idea…"

"She never said anything because it's in her habit to keep little things from others if it means not worrying them."

"Wait, are you sure I should take her to the hospital?" What if Paint's mother fainted on the way there or something worse? Then what? "Can't you or one of the other maids go with her?" It's not that Rainbow Dash didn't care or was too lazy; it's just that she was worried because she had no idea on how to take care of sick ponies.

"All the other maids are on a day off for the holiday, they'll only be back here tomorrow…" said Elisa as she rolled her eyes. Rainbow Dash wondered whether the dedicated unicorn ever went on vacation herself.

"All of them?" asked the pegasus, getting a nod in return.

"I have a lot of things to buy and stuff to do in the house by the end of the day," she said, using her magic to take out a long list of things she had to do from the pocket of her black and white dress.

"What about Emerald?"

"I can watch her and if I have to leave the house I'll just take her in the stroller." She opened the door with a look that literally begged the Rainbow Dash to come inside. "I've been looking for Paint or anypony who I can trust to go with her all day; I could really use your help with this."

"Of course I'll help." As awkward as it might be considering Paint's mother's talkative nature, Rainbow Dash did want to help, but she doubted she would be able to do all of Elisa's chores and take care of a baby at the same time, and taking the little foal to a hospital filled with sick ponies was not a very smart idea.

"Thank you so much, it really helps a lot." Said the maid with a grateful smile, closing the door after Rainbow Dash had entered the house.

Paint's mother happened to walk in after she had entered, and like always she smiled as she saw her son's marefriend. "Oh sweetie, it's so lovely to see you again!" Rainbow Dash only smiled and blushed a little like she always did around the older earth pony.

"Madam, I thought I asked you to stay by the fireplace where it's warmer." She said, walking over to her mistress and reaching for her forehead, as if to check her temperature, only to have the older mare move her hoof away with her own hoof.

"It's just a fever." She coughed a few times but smiled, "Ponies get a fever from time to time."

"Nevertheless I asked Rainbow Dash to take you to the hospital."

"Don't be silly, I don't need to see a doctor just so that he can tell me that I have a fever." There was a short pause, "Besides, you have an awful lot to do, I can't let you do it all on your own."

"You know how much I appreciate it when you help me around, but I really think you should at least have a doctor look at you. Please, just to calm me down?"

Paint's mother sighed, "Alright." She then coughed a few more times.

"I'll take care of Emerald until you get back."

"I know you will." said the older mare with a smile.

Rainbow Dash and Paint's mother left the house and began walking towards the hospital. While the pegasus was not used to walking very slowly, she knew that when you were sick you probably couldn't walk as fast as you could when you were healthy so she kept at a pace which allowed Paint's mother to keep up. The walk all the way to the hospital was passed in silence, and Rainbow Dash had to admit that being with her coltfriend's without anypony else around was rather awkward. They reached the hospital and Rainbow Dash opened the door, keeping it opened for a moment so that the older mare will be able to walk inside. Paint's mother silently thanked her and the two headed towards the reception desk. "Excuse me," said Rainbow Dash, addressing one of the nurses at the desk, "Can I please have a doctor to take a look at her?" she asked, pointing at Paint's mother with a hoof.

"Of course, if you'll go upstairs to the 2nd floor, the hospital isn't very busy right now and a doctor will be with you shortly."

"Thanks." She felt a little bad about the fact that Paint's mother had to climb the stairs, but there wasn't anything she could do about that. "So…" she said after they both sat down in the hall to wait, wanting to start some sort of a conversation with the mare sitting beside her.

Paint's mother seemed to have noticed that the rainbow-maned pegasus was feeling a little nervous. "Is something wrong dear?" While she didn't sound ill, except for when she coughed every now and then, it was clear on her face and in her body language that she wasn't feeling perfectly alright.

"No ma'am, nothing's wrong." If talking to her was sometimes a little awkward when Paint was around, imagine how awkward it was when he wasn't there. It's not that Rainbow Dash didn't like his mother's company, but being with your coltfriend's mother can usually get a little embarrassing.

"You don't need to call me ma'am sweetie," said she with a smile, "I thought I told you that already."

"You did." She said, her ears flattening against her head as the mare in front of her coughed once more.

"Don't worry about me; it's nothing to worry about." There was a short pause, "So how's everything going with you two?"

Rainbow Dash smiled, "You mean since we saw you yesterday in the morning?" they both chuckled, "Nothing special, the… usual…" she blushed a little and fell silent. After a short moment of thinking she realized something; if Paint told her about his newfound job as a teacher's assistant yesterday in the afternoon and he had been offered the job after the last time he had seen his mother then his mother still knew nothing about it. "Well, yesterday in the afternoon he had some exciting news to tell me, he-"

"Oh sweet Celestia! He proposed to you and you're getting married! I've always hoped he and his brother would ask me to be their best mare when they got married!"

"Uh… No, we're not getting married…" said the pegasus, feeling her cheeks boil as she blushed with embarrassment. Seriously, could this get any more embarrassing than it already was? "He got a job as a teacher's assistant at the school here and he's very excited about it."

"Oh that's simply wonderful! He really loves kids! Now he'll even tutor his little sister when she goes to school here one day, won't that be great?"

"Of course it will ma'am."

"You know, since he ran away I was always worried that he wouldn't be able to take care of himself but now, seeing that he's doing okay and that he's happy, I'm quite relieved. I'm mostly relieved to have him back again though." Rainbow Dash only smiled. "I can see the way he acts around you and the way he looks at you." continued the earth pony, looking at the pegasus beside her who was again blushing deeply, "You're more than just a marefriend in his eyes."

Rainbow Dash, again embarrassed, was saved from the awkward moment when a nurse walked over to them and said, "A doctor will see you now."

The cyan pegasus held back a sigh of relief and they followed the nurse into one of the rooms where a doctor was waiting. "Oh, Miss Dash," said the doctor upon seeing Rainbow Dash. "Your wing looks fine, good, for once you're not here because of a broken wing I see, very good indeed."

Rainbow Dash saw Paint's mother looking at her worriedly and said, "It's nothing ma'am, I broke a wing twice but I'm okay now."

The doctor's examination was a short and a rather regular one. He took temperature, did the regular 'turn your head and cough' routine and asked Paint's mother some questions. What he seemed to take the most attention in was that she told him that she had given birth to a foal just 3 weeks ago. "You're saying that this is the 3rd foal you've had ma'am?" he asked, she nodded, "And since then your fever came and went randomly, lasting a bit longer each time?" again she nodded. "Well then, this is very common, there's absolutely nothing to fear here. This rarely gets any worse and it should go away soon, at the latest when your foal no longer suckles. It may be the result of the fact that this is your 3rd born. If it doesn't stop soon, I'll suggest that you feed your daughter with a bottle instead. Other than that, try to stay off your feet when you feel unwell. So long as you avoid stress and don't catch anything else, there's absolutely no reason to be worried."

Rainbow Dash thanked the doctor and then she and Paint's mother left the hospital. The cyan pegasus had a hard time believing that it was already dark. After escorting her coltfriend's mother home and bidding her goodnight she took off and flew to her own house. Since it was dark there was no doubt that Paint was back from the farm already. She entered the cloud house and closed the door behind her, and was about to call her coltfriend's name when a very good smell caught her attention. Heading to the kitchen, she found a dish with her favorite dinner on the table. She had no doubt as to who made it for her, but there was also a note next to it, which was written in her coltfriend's writing:

_Hey Dashie,_

_I came home and you weren't here so I thought I'd make you some dinner. I'm really tired from the day at the farm so I'm going to hit the sack early today._

_I hope that this doesn't disappoint you and enjoy your dinner._

_Love, Paint_

Rainbow Dash smiled and walked over to the bedroom, indeed finding her coltfriend peacefully asleep. Don't tell anypony, but she thought he was really cute when he was asleep. She also liked to nuzzle his cute ears while he slept, and the way they twitched a little when she did always made her giggle.

_In Canterlot_

Paint's father, who was sitting at his desk as usual, raised his eyes from his work when the door of his hotel room opened and his son Silver gaily walked into the room, looking like the happiest stallion alive. "I expected you to be back sooner." He said, raising an eyebrow at his son's rather peculiar joy.

"Sorry dad, I had… things to do…" he said, taking off his saddlebag and throwing it to the corner of his room.

"This is as happy as I've ever seen you before about studying." he stared at his son who only smiled at him. "I take it that you've had enough time to finish everything that you went to Ponyville for?"

"I did, but you could say that I got a bit… distracted…"

"Meaning?"

"Well… I went to the library and the mare running it helped me find the book I needed."

"I don't see which part of this made you come into the room prancing like a little filly."

"Her name's Twilight Sparkle dad, she's amazing!"

"Ah," said his father, laughing to himself, "I see."

"I've never met anypony as beautiful or as clever as her! We talked, read a little, and then I took her out for lunch, it was the best day of my life!"

Then one of his father's colleagues entered the room. Paint's father looked at his son, "Why don't you give us a few moments and you can tell me all about your day later?"

"I think I'll just take a shower and go to bed, goodnight dad."

Silver then left the room and soon there was the sound of running water. His father looked at his colleague, "Well, what is it?"

"This came in to your mailbox at the factory today, just after you've left." He handed him an envelope, which was from his lawyer.

"Ah, it's from my lawyer." He said, opening it and reading it before angrily throwing it on the floor. "This can't be! This is outrageous!"

"What is it sir?"

"That bastard is getting released from jail!"

"Who? You don't mean-"

"Yes! Take the letter, tell me what it says."

The other stallion picked up the sheet of paper before reading a specific part of it: "…released early due to good behavior-"

"Good behavior! Good behavior?! That pegasus should rot in a dungeon until his last day for what he did!"

"Sir, there's more…"

"More! Perfect! Well, what else does it say?"

"Your lawyer wishes to remind you, since the trial took place many years ago where you lived before moving in to Ponyville, that the judge had him imprisoned far away from you and your family, and, well… The jail he was thrown into is here, in Canterlot…"

"What?! Give me that!" he took the letter from him and went through it again before angrily tearing it into pieced and throwing it into the fireplace. "So he's here! That's great, that's exactly where I want him, near my family! Perfect!"

"Sir, you can't be serious…"

"Of course I'm not serious! That was sarcasm! I need him near my family just like I need that other winged piece of trash!"

"Forgive me si-"

"Just get out of my sight!" The poor stallion in front of him hurried out of the room and closed the door behind him. Oh well, not everypony has heard of the expression 'don't kill the messenger'.

**A/N: If you found the part where I wrote about how Rainbow Dash likes to play with Paint's ears while he sleeps cute, then my goal while writing that was achieved =)**

**Don't forget to review if you have the time, it really means a lot. Also if you know anyone who might enjoy my stories, be sure to let them know!**


	8. Little Emerald

When Rainbow Dash woke the following day she could immediately tell that it was already a rather late part of the morning. Being somepony who usually slept in (or slept a lot in general), she was able to tell almost precisely how long she had been asleep simply according to how tired or how un-tired she felt once she had woken up. Considering that she was now feeling as if she'd had an excellent night's sleep and considering that she didn't go to sleep late last night she felt rather certain that she had slept in maybe even more than what was usual for her, which was a lot. Just for the emphasis, the rainbow-maned pegasus valued her sleeps and naps even more than Rarity valued her beauty sleep. Whenever she thought about Applejack or Big Macintosh in regard of how many hours they had to spend working at their farm she was always amazed at how they never collapsed from exhaustion or lose their minds, since they obviously did not sleep for as many hours as she did and, even though she herself slept for way more than 8 hours per day, she was never herself if she did not get her usual amount of sleep which, again, was quite a large amount. But who can blame her? Sleeping's fun. If I had a good night that means that I've slept for about 7 hours and a half. I'm a person who's always tired.

Since her bed was made out of clouds as well as pretty much her entire house and everything else she had in it with the exception of food, her Gala dress and her Daring Doo books, it was very warm and cozy. Still, despite how warm her bed was, when she woke up she felt as if something was missing. After yawning, stretching and looking around her shoulder, she noticed that her coltfriend was gone. It wasn't too much of a surprise because Paint never slept in and she usually woke up to found out that he was already awake, but she had to admit that waking up to find him still asleep next to her or waking up to find out that he was already awake but was still cuddled up against her was a much better way to start the day. Considering the fact that her weather job required pretty much no time or effort on her part, the rainbow-maned mare's schedule was quite empty. Maybe that was the reason why she developed her napping habit. She couldn't wait to pass those tryouts for the Wonderbolts so that she could quit that weather job and finally make her life interesting. Even though she had seen the poster regarding the upcoming tryouts with her own eyes she still couldn't believe that the opportunity for which she had been waiting for pretty much her entire life was finally here. Of course she was a little nervous since the examinations were to take place in 6 days from now, but ever since managing to perform a Sonic Rainboom on command she pretty much entirely stopped doubting her abilities as a flier.

She got up and out of bed, patting Tank who was lying by her bed gently on the head as he slowly blinked at her before leaving the bedroom and heading towards the kitchen, finding her coltfriend there. "Morning…" she said sleepily with a yawn as she stretched her wings.

"Morning Dashie," said he with his usual smile, gently nuzzling his marefriend when she arrived beside him, "I made breakfast."

"Aww, you did?" she asked, looking at the table and noticing that there were indeed two plates with food on the table. Not only that, but the food was also still hot, which was evident from the way it smelled. "It's still warm, haven't you been up for like a few hours now?"

"I have," he answered with a smile, "but I was able tell when you're going to wake up so I waited a little with the breakfast."

"Were you now?"

"Yeah, just like you know that I've been up for a few hours already." After being together for such a long time they already knew each other quite well.

"I guess that makes sense." she said with a shrug, looking at the dinner her coltfriend had prepared for her and then back at him with a smile, "That's so sweet, you didn't have to…" that's what she's been telling him ever since he moved in to live with her, but it never made any difference whatsoever. Until he moved in what she ate in her house was pretty much cereal and sandwiches because she thought that cooking was boring (among many other things).

"Don't mention it, I love to cook."

"I know you do, but it always looks like you work so hard on those…"

"It's nothing, really." He said, kissing his marefriend once before sitting down at the table. "Go ahead and eat. I thought about going to see my mother first before thinking about what to do with the rest of my day… Once I start working in a few days I'll have much more to do, it'll be great."

"Yeah, I bet it will. I think I'll go with you; I don't have much to do either. Applejack has to work all day, Pinkie Pie has to bake lots of… things, Twilight has to study and Fluttershy will probably talk about Big Macintosh all day and I really don't think I can handle that. Oh, I should tell you something, about your mother-"

"Speaking of baking," he said suddenly, cutting her short, "I made muffins." He got up and opened the oven, taking out a tray of what seemed to be very delicious muffins.

"You made muffins? What's the occasion?"

"I got bored."

"Of course you did." She said with a chuckle as he placed the tray on the table. "They look delicious."

"You were about to tell me something just now?" he asked, once again sitting down beside her.

"Oh, yeah… The reason I came in late yesterday was because Elisa asked me to take your mother to the hospital…" she felt a little bad about not telling him immediately after waking up, but since the doctor yesterday said that Paint's mother should get better soon and that it was nothing serious it kind of slipped her mind.

"To the hospital?" he asked in surprise, standing up on all four hooves, "Did something happen to her?"

"No, nothing, she just had a little fever." replied Rainbow Dash, shaking her head. "The doctor said she should stay in bed until she feels well and to… avoid stress or whatever…"

"Oh, is that it?" he asked, letting out a sigh of relief as he saw his marefriend nod. "That's a relief, you really had me worried for a moment, I thought something horrible happened and I was just on the verge of flying over as fast as I could."

"She did have a slight headache and all, but as I already mentioned the doctor said there's no reason to worry. Why, I'm sure she feels better already."

"That's great, we can eat our breakfast and then head over." He had no reason to not believe what Rainbow Dash said, which was why there was no reason for him to get stressed and, as a result, not enjoy the food he had prepared for both of them.

With that concern out of the way, the two pegasi began to eat. Like with the dinner he prepared for her yesterday before going to sleep his cooking tasted amazing, a fact which Rainbow Dash pointed out with a mouthful of food, causing him to chuckle. After she was done with her dish she found herself staring at the tray of muffins, almost to the point of drooling over them. Her coltfriend took notice of that and said that he didn't mind if she began eating them, regardless of the fact that he himself was still not done with his own food. The rainbow-maned pegasus squeed at this and immediately grabbed a muffin. Paint only chuckled and, after finishing his own food a few moments later, went ahead and also took a muffin. By that time Rainbow Dash had already eaten a few.

At some point, like with all trays filled with muffins / cookies / other goodies, there was only one left. Paint reached to grab for it, only to have his hoof meet his marefriend's hoof on the way there. Apparently she had the same intention as he did regarding the last muffin. The two pegasi eyed each other and the silence was interrupted by Rainbow Dash. "Give me the muffin." She reached for it once more, only for her coltfriend to move her hoof away from it.

"But I want the muffin." He said bluntly, holding back a grin.

"No, I want it."

"I made them."

"You're the stallion here, be a gentlecolt." she said, frowning playfully at him.

"But you already ate more than I did." He grinned at her cheekily while raising an eyebrow.

It took about less than half a minute before the two began 'fighting' over the muffin. They didn't really hurt each other, but were actually grappling for it like two little foals. To be honest neither of them cared too much about who ate the last muffin, they just had fun teasing each other like that. Beside, even grownups enjoyed playing like children from time to time. They soon forgot about the existence of the muffin in question and just tried to get the best of the other. At some point Rainbow Dash found herself pinned onto her back with him standing above her with a smirk. "It's my muffin now."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Forget the muffin…" she leaned up to kiss him, and then-

-somepony knocked at the door.

"Oh come on…" she muttered with a sigh. Paint only chuckled and went to open the door while Rainbow Dash stood back up.

"Oh, hey there Derpy." He said with a friendly smile upon seeing the grey pegasus flying in her place in front of him with the look she usually had on her face.

"Hiya! Mail delivery!" she got out a few envelops from her saddlebag and handed them over.

"Thanks Derpy." The yellow-maned pegasus turned to leave but he suddenly called her back over. "Wait a moment." He went back to the kitchen and returned with the last muffin. "Here's a muffin." The mailmare squeed, swallowed the muffin in a single bite and then flew off to Celestia knows where. Paint only chuckled and closed the door before returning to the kitchen.

"Aww…" complained Rainbow Dash after examining the envelopes and seeing that they were just bills. Paint had mentioned to her more than once before that as soon as he started working he would help her cover expenses, since he was also living in her house now. "I was gonna eat that." There was a short silence and then she suddenly looked at him, "You owe me another one of those muffins."

"Yeah sure, whatever." He leaned over to kiss her but she stopped him with a hoof.

"Really."

"Oh, are you kidding me?"

"_I_ am one hundred percent off limits until then."

"Dash…"

"I mean it." Even though she tried really hard she couldn't keep a straight face. It was just too funny whenever he begged.

"Dashie…"

"No." she said, still chuckling.

"Fine, I'll make some muffins when we get back. But you're evil."

Rainbow Dash squeed in triumph.

The two pegasi went ahead and flew over to the house where Paint's mother now lived. Elisa opened the door as they knocked, and she seemed quite happy to see them both. "Hey Elisa, how's my mom?"

"Well she's not any worse if that's what you're asking…" she said as she closed the door after they entered. "Her fever hasn't changed at all though."

"But…" he said, hesitating, "There's nothing to worry about right?"

"Of course not dear, there's nothing to worry about at all. She just needs to stay in bed for a day or two and she'll be as good as new."

"Can I see her?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course you can see her." They headed upstairs to the third floor, passing next to the room which belonged to Paint's little sister as far as he could remember. He managed to take a small peek as they passed by it because the door was half open, and he saw that there were two maids in the room doing whatever they had to do. Not wanting to think about it, he went ahead and followed Elisa to the room at the end of the hallway. The two pegasi and unicorn entered it and saw that Paint's mother was asleep. "You two can stay for as long as you like, I bet she'll be really happy to see you here when she wakes up."

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Paint, seeing her head for the door.

"Oh, I have to run some errands but I shouldn't be long. If you or your mother need anything just call one of the maids."

The unicorn housekeeper left, leaving the two pegasi alone with the sleeping earth pony. For a short while Paint and Rainbow Dash sat there silently but then the rainbow-maned pegasus noticed that her coltfriend looked rather troubled. "Don't worry Paint, it'll be fine." She said, reassuringly placing a hoof on his shoulder.

"I know it will." He answered, giving her a short nuzzle to show how much he appreciated the fact that she was there with him.

The two were again silent, and this time for a much longer period of time. "Oh, I completely forgot… I still haven't done my portion of the weather today…"

"It's okay Rainbow, you don't want to keep that waiting for later."

"Do you want me to come back here when I'm done?" if for some reason he felt that it would be better if she didn't come back then she wasn't going to argue, nor would she mind if he did ask her to come back.

"You can go back home if you want, I don't think I'll stay here for much longer…" he looked at his mother who was still asleep, "I want to be here when she wakes up and all, but it's a little depressing…"

"Alright, I'll see you home then." She kissed him once on the cheek, "Everything will be fine."

Paint was left alone with his mother. He had to admit that now that Rainbow Dash was gone it was even more depressing to look at his mother while knowing that she was not feeling well. Perhaps it would have been a smarter move to ask her not to leave, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Instead he rested his head down on the bed and simply stared at the wall.

At some point he began to doze off, and would have probably fallen asleep if it weren't for a noise which came from his sister's room. He got up and looked into the hallway before seeing the two maids from before leave the room in question while talking to each other and giggling. He wasn't about to make a big deal of it because the two mares obviously didn't have to spend the entire day in Emerald's room, but his attention was again diverted to his little sister when the sound of her crying reached his ears. At first he just sat there motionless, not knowing what he should do. He looked at his mother, hoping more than ever that she would wake up because he didn't want to go anywhere near the baby. His mother didn't wake up however. He hesitated but stood up, slowly walking over to the door behind which his little sister was. Hesitating once more, he stopped outside of her room, before taking in a deep breath and going inside, stopping next to his sister's little bed.

Emerald was still crying, and even though he had been a babysitter a few times in his life he felt for some reason like he didn't know what to do. First finding out about the little foal caused him great distress and since then he avoided any conversation regarding her, not to mention that he never went to see her, as some of you might remember. Now that he was looking at that innocent foal who had done him no wrong, he was starting to feel a little bad about literally trying to ignore and forget the fact that she existed. Maybe it was because she was now crying, or maybe it was because looking at the helpless baby made him realize that he had been acting in a really stupid and even juvenile way when it came to her. One thing he was sure about, Emerald was crying because she wanted to be with her mother. Having a foal next to a sick pony however was never a good idea so taking her to his mother's chamber was out of the question.

Not knowing what else to do, he picked up the little foal and began to gently rock it, quietly humming a lullaby his mother used to sing to him when he himself was a baby. His mother would have most likely been touched if she could see them right now. Emerald continued crying for a few more moments, but as the minutes passed she began to slowly quiet down until she was silent altogether. For a moment Paint thought that the tiny earth pony had fallen asleep, but when he looked at her he saw that she was simply staring at him as if trying to figure out who he was. His heart melted when the little foal suddenly smiled at him. It made him realize that he didn't react the way he should have reacted upon finding out that he had a little sister.

Suddenly the door (Paint having closed it upon entering), and the blue stallion looked around expecting to see one of the maids, but instead he saw one of his father's colleagues. He knew right away that his father had heard of his wife being sick and that he sent somepony to see how things were going. Paint remembered this stallion in particular from before he ran away in the first place, and from the looks of it the stallion also remembered him. "Good day to you." He said simply, remembering that none of his father's colleagues were too fond of him. "I suppose you're here to check on my mother."

The stallion only looked at Emerald and then at him before bluntly asking "What are you doing with your baby sister?" It was like he was given direct orders regarding the blue pegasus.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked, sarcastically. He didn't really like his father's colleagues just like they didn't like him. It was mutual. "She was left alone. I took care of her."

The two stallions looked at each other silently for a few moments before the older one spoke again. "Give her to me."

As much as Paint didn't feel comfortable about this whole thing, he knew better than to disobey his father or anypony else sent by him. He handed Emerald to him, ignoring how she protested by beginning to cry again. "Send my love and regards to my father and tell him that I would very much appreciate it if he gave my brother the letters which I wrote and keep writing." Again he spoke with sarcasm, not really caring about the frown he received from the older stallion. "Also do inform him that I have no intention whatsoever of hurting my little sister. They say that those who from such evil thoughts about others are the ones who eventually execute them."

Without really waiting for his father's colleague to say anything he got up and headed out through the door, trying with all his might to ignore the fact that his little sister was crying even louder than when she was handed to the other stallion. As he left the two maids who were with Emerald a few minutes ago returned. Despite having returned to his mother's room he could hear his father's colleague scolding the two mares. "You left her alone with _him_ around you fools!" It hurt to hear that. What did his father think, that he was a monster? Did he really think that Paint would actually hurt a little foal just because of jealousy? One thing was for sure; his father wanted him gone. And with the way Paint knew his father, he also knew that the opinions of his mother as well as of his brother were not going to make any difference.

**A/N: Sorry about not getting this chapter out by Tuesday. It's always about whether I have enough time to write or not. Since many of you expressed interest when I said that I was sick and that I had this important exam coming up I figured I should let you know that I feel perfectly fine now and that the test went more than well. Thank you all for caring =]**


	9. The Warrant

**A/N: To ShiningShadow1965 – The whole point of the story is that it's emotionally driven, and I didn't even get started.**

Paint must have really meant it when he told Rainbow Dash that he wasn't going to stay at his mother's house for long because when she came back home after doing her portion of the weather for the day she found him there already, and it never takes her long to finish whatever she has to do so she figured that he must have came back home very soon after she had gone to work. He smiled at her when she entered, like he always did whenever he saw her, and yet she couldn't help but notice in his expression that something was wrong. Of course, he didn't seem very happy when they were at his mother's house either, but it seemed as if there was something else bothering him in addition to his mother's sickness. "Hey, I didn't expect you to be back _this_ quickly." She said, also smiling as she went over and shared a short kiss with him. She knew that questioning her coltfriend directly about such an emotionally delicate subject was not a good idea, having seen how he reacted when his mother first came into town and when he suddenly found out that he had a little sister. The fact that he had never really spoken to her about the life he had before running away was also a proof to how hard it was for him to open up when it came to the matter.

"Hey Dashie," he said, kissing her again and holding her close with a smile, "yeah, I couldn't really stay there for long." It became a lot more unbearable to silently sit there and wait for his mother to wake up when Rainbow Dash left and he preferred it a lot more when she was still there with him. "I'll go and see her again tomorrow; hopefully she'll be awake when I do." It's not that the fact that she was asleep somehow made her sicker, but looking at her to see her awake and talking would have obviously felt better. In general he didn't like being around sick ponies, it reminded him of times he wanted to forget. He also really didn't like hospitals, but if he had no choice but to go to them, like when his marefriend had a broken wing six months ago and had to go through surgery for example, then he went. He was rather certain that the presence of his father's colleague, as well as what has happened when the older stallion suddenly showed up, also made him leave so quickly.

Rainbow Dash was still certain that there was more to it than just finding the entire situation depressing; it was clear on her coltfriend's expression even though he was smiling a genuine smile at her. "Did something happen after I left? You seem more upset than you were before…" It was clear to her that his mother didn't wake up before he left, because if she did then he would obviously feel better instead of worse.

"What?" he started nervously, looking away from her as he did, "No, I just…" What was he going to say to her, that he now knew for sure that his own father thought he was a monster?

"Paint…" she placed a hoof against his cheek and made him look at her, her ears flattening against her head as she did, "You can tell me." As much as she didn't want to force him to talk she hated seeing him keep it all in his stomach, and she had no doubt that he would feel a lot better if he talked. She was usually the type of pony who was against the whole thing of 'talking about your feelings' and other sappy things of the sort, but Paint was her coltfriend and she cared about him. The blue pegasus looked into his marefriend's eyes for a few moments, not sure of what to say to her. The caring look in her eyes eventually got the better of him and he sighed before giving her a short account of what happened after she had left. She listened to him carefully and was more than just shocked at what he had just told her, even finding it a little hard to believe.

"Now I know why my brother doesn't answer any of my letters…" He said with a sigh, again looking away from Rainbow Dash. "He doesn't even get them to begin with."

"You can't know that for sure…" said she, hoping to somewhat reassure him even though it pretty much looked like he was right.

"I didn't want to believe it first but I can't really deny it now." What happened back at his mother's house was the proof he didn't want to have.

"Forget about that, it doesn't matter." Yes, knowing that that was the way your father felt about you was horrible but letting it depress you was even worse, especially when you're surrounded by many others who love and care about you. "Your mother's very happy that your back, you need to remember that. And so what if your father's making sure that your brother doesn't get your letters? They'll move here as well in a few weeks and then your brother will know that you're here for sure, no matter what your father or anypony else will do."

"I can't believe he actually thinks I'll hurt my own sister…" he let out another sigh, "I love her, I will never even consider doing something like that…"

"I know you won't. Everypony knows. Your father will realize that eventually, and if he doesn't then you shouldn't care. You have the rest of your family and your friends…" she smiled and again made him look at her by placing a hoof against his cheek and diverting his gaze to her. "And you have me too."

He stared into her eyes for a few moments of silence and then smiled. "Thank you Rainbow." He kissed her and held her even closer, "I don't know what I would do without you…"

Rainbow Dash allowed her coltfriend to pull her closer, giggling as he pecked her cheek. "We still have a whole afternoon and evening ahead of us." He leaned in to kiss her again but she stopped him. "Hold it. You owe me muffins."

He sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Dash…"

"Maybe you can show me how to make them while you're at it."

This got him somewhat more excited in comparison to the idea of simply making muffins. "Sounds neat, let's go."

_Later in the evening, in Canterlot_

"So did you find him? He should be here in Canterlot because he probably has no property whatsoever and therefore he couldn't have really gone anywhere." said a gray coated earth pony, looking at another stallion who was sitting at the other side of the table.

"No sir, but he's probably around."

"Good." Paint's father got up and headed towards the window, looking outside. "I want to see his reaction when I look him in the eye." There was a short silence after which a unicorn wearing a suit entered the room. "There you are, I've been expecting you." said Paint's father, turning around to face him. "Did you bring what I told you to?"

"Yes sir, I have it right here." said the unicorn, using his magic to bring out a folded document out of one of the pockets in his suit before unfolding it and handing it to the earth pony in front of him who read it entirely.

"Very good." He grabbed a quill in his mouth and dipped it in ink.

"Sir, don't you think you're taking this whole thing a little too far?"

Paint's father, who was about to put his signature on the paper, raised his head and looked at the unicorn. "Do I pay you to question me or do I pay you to do what a lawyer's supposed to do?" The lawyer went silent and Paint's father signed the paper before looking at his colleague, "I want you or somepony else to be in my house and oversee that this warrant is executed. Do it in shifts between you or ask one of the maids to be on the lookout."

"But Elisa and your wife will never agree to this." said the other earth pony.

"You forget that I own the house and that Elisa works for me." He handed the paper to him. "My wife will come to her senses when she realizes that I'm only taking safety measures." He frowned, "Get it done."

_The next morning, back in Ponyville_

Paint opened his eyes with a yawn, trying to figure out what time of the morning it was and how long he had been asleep. Whatever the time was, it didn't matter much because he didn't have any place important to be at anyway. Things will really become more interesting for him as soon as he would finally start working in the school, and he could hardly wait for that to happen. He let out another yawn and stretched his legs and wings, noticing that he had Rainbow Dash close to him in a tight embrace. Smiling to himself, he wrapped his wing and foreleg back around her and gently held her close. Spending the second half of the day with her yesterday was great. He knew that she was just being a tease with the whole part of demanding muffins, but he didn't mind too much because he enjoyed baking and cooking, and she turned out to rather enjoy helping him make them. Well, she enjoyed the part where they ate them more than the part where they made them. Despite the fact that she also enjoyed teasing him, he decided to take the whole thing as a compliment aimed at cooking. And besides, spending the rest of the day with her helped distract him from what was on his mind, regardless of what they did together.

The blue pegasus knew that his marefriend was a heavy sleeper and that she almost always slept in late, but he wouldn't mind staring at her even for hours. She looked so beautiful when she slept. He had told her many times how much he adored her and how much he appreciated the fact that she was always there by his side, especially now that his life was going through such a mess. Still, regardless of how many times he had told her so, he felt as if he hadn't said it enough and that there weren't words that were sufficient to express his love and appreciation towards her. She of course never minded to hear him talk of how much he loved her, even if he did often repeat himself way too often.

He couldn't tell for how long he continued to lie there while holding her and gently nuzzling her, but she woke up eventually, rolling onto her other side so that they were lying while facing each other. "Morning beautiful…" he said with a smile as he gave her a loving lick across her muzzle, causing her to giggle.

"Hey…" she said, snuggling closer to him, "Have you been up long?" She knew that the space between when he wakes up to when she wakes up could sometimes be a few hours.

"A while, I'm not sure exactly…" he said, having not really bothered to keep track of time. "I was busy looking at you and thinking…"

"Thinking?" she asked as he gently ran a hoof through her mane. "What were you thinking about?"

"About yesterday…" he said with a smile, "About how you helped me take my mind off my troubles and lighten up my mood."

"That was no big deal." She said, rubbing her nose against her coltfriend's.

"Did you enjoy making muffins?" he asked with a chuckle.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," she admitted, "but it wasn't as exciting as your enthusiasm made it look like." Paint chuckled once more. "In _overall_ though you can say that yesterday was quite a pleasure…" she added, a little flirtatiously.

"Well I'm very happy to hear that…" he said, pulling her closer and kissing her as he did. After a few more minutes of lying embraced in the warm cloud bed the two decided to get up. "Want to help me make breakfast?" he asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's not like I have anything better to do like reading the newspaper or something." Unless a text was related to the Wonderbolts or to Daring Doo, she would never read it.

The two began making breakfast when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Paint opened it and saw that it was Derpy again. "Hey Derpy."

"Mail!" she exclaimed simply, throwing an envelope at his face and flying off.

"O… kay…" he said simply, picking it up and heading back to the kitchen after closing the door.

"Who was it?" asked Rainbow Dash upon his reentering the kitchen.

"Derpy."

"But she delivered the bills for this month yesterday, and I never get letters." said the rainbow-maned mare in confusion.

"Maybe it's from some distant relation of yours." He said as he placed the envelope on the kitchen table before over to another table on which they were making their breakfast.

"Maybe…" said Rainbow Dash, looking at the envelope in front of her before suddenly calling her coltfriend back, "It's for you."

"For me?" he asked, sounding surprised as well as a little excited because it could be a letter from his brother.

"Is it from your brother?" asked Rainbow Dash, having the same thought that he was having.

"No…" he said after having examined what was written on the envelope itself. The writing on it did not belong to his brother. "This isn't his writing…" he was now even more curious to see what was inside it.

"I wonder what it is." As much as she was curious she didn't come over to look as he opened the envelope and took out the sheet of paper that was in it, since it was his letter and not hers after all and, as far as she remembered, he never read her mail, not even the bills. She continued to sit there silently as he coltfriend went over his letter, but she started becoming a little confused as the look of interest turned into a one of surprise and even shock. "Paint?" she eventually asked, noticing from where his eyes were directed that he was going through the sheet of paper over and over again. "What is it?" Seeing that he wasn't going to say a word her curiosity got the better of her and she walked over, looking at the paper that was on the table. She too became confused as she read the title. "What's a… restraining order?"

Paint's eyes dropped to the bottom of the document and he saw that it was signed by his father. "No…" he said, his voice a little shaky, "This has to be some sort of a mistake… According to this I'm not allowed to be within a certain distance of the house, my mother or my sister!"

Rainbow Dash frowned, "So what? He can't force you."

"This is a legal document Rainbow, if I disobey it I can get thrown into prison."

"What?!" she exclaimed, furious, "He can't do that!"

"It's his house, his wife and his daughter." He said with tears forming in his eyes, sounding defeated. "Of course he can." The only reason Paint's older brother did not appear on the list of things and ponies he was not allowed to approach was because Silver was no longer a minor. "I can't believe he did this…"

"Calm down Paint, we'll think of something…"

"I knew this was too good to be true." With his head down and his ears flat against his head he left the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

Not knowing what to do, but mostly because she wanted answers, she grabbed the warrant and flew towards the house in question in full speed. Upon arriving at the entrance, she went ahead and roughly knocked on the door. Elisa opened it after a few moments. "Miss Dash, good morning, how-" she was cut short when the cyan pegasus simply walked inside with the piece of paper in her mouth, looking rather angry as she did. "Is something wrong Rainbow Dash?"

The rainbow-maned pegasus was about to say something when the voice of Paint's mother reached her ears. "Who is it Elisa?" after a few moments Rainbow Dash was able to see the older mare at the top of the stair case leading to the second floor. She smiled upon seeing her son's marefriend, "Oh, dear, how lovely it is to see you again." It was clear from her voice that she still wasn't perfectly healthy.

"My lady, you should be in bed."

"Don't talk nonsense Elisa, I feel much better now." She said as she walked down the stairs.

"The doctor said you need to stay in bed until your fever is gone." She looked at Rainbow Dash, "What is it? You seem quite upset, and where's Paint?"

"Paint can't make it." Answered the pegasus with the warrant still in her mouth, frowning as she did.

The two other mares looked rather taken aback by her rather aggressive approach. "Did something happen to him?" asked Elisa.

"Your husband, that's what happened." She said, looking at Paint's mother and letting the paper drop to the floor.

Elisa used her magic to life it up and read it over, her eyes widening as she did. "What is it Elisa?" asked his mother, who looked very confused by the way Rainbow Dash was behaving.

"It's… Nothing for you to be concerned about…" replied the unicorn, remembering how the doctor had said that Paint's mother should avoid any sort of stress or emotional swings.

"Let me see the paper." demanded the older mare with a frown.

"I really think you shouldn't-"

"Elisa!" The unicorn surrendered and made the document float over so that Paint's mother could read it. It didn't take her more than a few seconds to react to it; she was so shocked that her husband had done such a thing that it was impossible to comprehend what was coming out of her mouth, and at some point Elisa and Rainbow Dash had to make her lie down on the couch because they feared that she might faint.

**A/N: I know it's not Saturday, but I just felt like writing this when I woke up this morning. Think of this as the chapter I owe you guys from that weekend during which I wasn't feeling well and after which I had that test to take.**


	10. Like Old Times

The restricting order, just like pretty much everything else that has been happening in Paint's life in the past week, took him absolutely by surprise. Whenever he thought that things were going to settle down, and that his life was finally about to cease being a drama, something new would pop up that made things even worse than they already were. Let's look about how things were just before he received the distressing news; like Rainbow Dash had said to him yesterday he needed to focus on what he did have in case of what he didn't have. He didn't have his father's love, which was something every single pony desired and deserved, but on the other hoof he had his friends, his mother and Rainbow Dash. As for his brother, Rainbow Dash was right in saying that at some point he will find out everything that was being kept a secret from him, whether Paint's father wanted him to know or not. Paint wanted to believe her, he really did, and he was really about to listen to her and look at the bright side of things, but then his father took even that away from him.

How was he going to focus on the fact that he had his mother back in his life as well as a baby sister if he was legally forbidden to be with them not to mention even come near them? Now, no matter from how many angles he looked at how things were, it seemed like there was no bright side and that there was no solution to his misfortunes. Well, there'll probably always be those who will attempt to cheer him up by saying that all he has to do is to sit down, talk to his father and try to knock some sense into him, but he knew more than well that it was not going to work. His father didn't even want to see him, and the legal document which forced him to stay away from the house, from his mother and from his little sister proved it, and therefore going to talk to his father wasn't really an option. Besides, even if that wasn't the case and there was no restricting order, Paint knew more than well that his father didn't want him around. Like mentioned before, he was going to try to live with that fact, and if it weren't for the restricting order he probably would have been able to do that and finally live a quiet and not-crazy life.

But no, for some reason everything kept blowing up in his face. The only question he couldn't answer was why. What had he ever done to deserve such a horrible treatment from somepony who was supposed to always be there from him? It was what depressed him the most; not how he was going to deal with his situation but why he ended up in the situation he was in. He had tried to ignore that the first time by starting a new life, which was how he ended up in Ponyville, but now the situation was different; now he couldn't just leave everything behind like he did last time and run away because he had everything he could have possibly hoped to achieve by running away in the first place; his friends, the new job which he was about to take in exactly 5 days from now and, most importantly, Rainbow Dash. There was no escaping from reality this time. But don't think that he wanted to run away again and couldn't because of the fact that he now had what he had. He didn't want to run away again because of the fact that he now had what he had. I don't know whether you see the difference but there is one (try reading those two sentences again if you don't see it). Putting up with his father's behavior and the consequences of it will obviously be less unbearable than leaving everything he now had behind.

After going over to his mother's house in order to try and get some answers Rainbow Dash returned to her own house to see how her coltfriend was doing. While she had no doubt that his mother had nothing to do with that stupid warrant, she still couldn't help her anger back when she spoke to her and Elisa. The older earth pony was so distraught by the news that Rainbow Dash was feeling a little bad about coming there in the first place, even though Paint's mother would have found out about the warrant sooner or later. It took the rainbow-maned pegasus and the unicorn housekeeper quite a while to calm her down but even after they did she was obviously very upset at what her husband had done. Rainbow Dash had a slight hope that Paint's mother will be able to set things right by talking some sense into her husband. As for now, there was nothing that Rainbow Dash herself could do to change the situation. All she could do was try to make Paint feel better. The fact that this was the only thing she could do was killing her, but there was nothing she could do about _that_ either.

The rainbow-maned mare entered her house and headed towards her bedroom which was where she saw Paint go just before she left to talk to his mother, passing by the kitchen and the unfinished breakfast which they began making together just before the warrant arrived. All the food was no longer good enough to be eaten because it has been standing on the table for quite a while instead of being in the refrigerator and she was going to have to throw it all away, but that was something she would take care of later because she had more important things for her to worry about. She opened the door to her bedroom, which was closed, and found her coltfriend lying on her bed with his head underneath one of the pillows. There wasn't really any doubt as to how long he has been lying there like that, which was probably since his marefriend had last seen him.

"Paint?" she asked softly, approaching the bed. It gave her quite a sense of déjà vu, probably because of the fact that her coltfriend had needed her comfort more than once already. It angered her to see him like this, and if his father knew what was good for him he would do the right thing before Rainbow Dash lost her temper and went to have a little word with him herself.

"What?" came his chocked up voice from underneath the pillow, which was rather muffled because of the fact that that his face was pressed against the cloud-bed.

Rainbow Dash's ears flattened against her head as she got onto the bed and lay down beside him. "I… I went to see your mother and I told her what happened." Paint didn't move and didn't say anything, which indicated that he knew that this was what his marefriend was going to do. "Look, I don't have to tell you that she was furious when I told her about this… I'm sure that everything will be fine. If anypony can talk some sense into your father then it's her, I'm sure she'll be able to make him come to his senses."

Paint removed the pillow from his head and looked at her. It was clear that he had been crying while she was gone, but who could blame him? "How is my mother? Is she feeling better?" Clearly he was focusing on the things that really mattered to him at the moment, and changing his father's mind was not one of those things because he knew that attempting to do that will be like head butting a large rock.

"I'm not sure… She seemed a little better when she came to greet me but I was so upset that I told her about what your father did without really paying too much attention…" she admitted with a sigh.

"So much for avoiding stress like the doctor said… I hope this won't affect her health…" as he said this he looked at the wall in front of him while resting his head down on the bed and between his forelegs.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot about that…" she said, sounding rather guilty, "I shouldn't have gone there to talk to her…"

"It's okay, she would have found out about it eventually." Besides, he couldn't blame her for looking out for him.

A few moments were passed in silence before Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on her coltfriend's shoulder, moving herself closer to him as she did. "Look, it'll all be fine, we'll figure out how to get through this mess." It was pretty much what she had been telling him for the past week and a half, but she didn't know what else to say.

"I hope so." he said with yet another sigh, his voice lacking any trace of confidence. He looked into his marefriend's eyes for a few moments before suddenly wrapping a foreleg and a wing around her, holding her close while rubbing his head against hers. "You're not going to disappear are you?" he asked with a sob as he held her closer, as if somepony was going to take her away from him in case he didn't.

"Of course not." she said reassuringly, allowing him to hug her while nuzzling him in yet another attempt of reassurance.

"I don't know what I would do without you…" he admitted, pulling her even closer to him.

"It's okay, I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere."

The rest of the day was spent in the same manner. Paint remained in bed all day and Rainbow Dash did her best to lighten up his mood. She stayed with him all the time except for the few minutes during which she had to go and take care of the weather. She tried to convince him to get out of bed and go outside with her in order to get some fresh air but he refused, and she decided that forcing him was a bad idea, even if she did hate to see him remain inside the house all the time.

He went to sleep early and had a rather restless night, unintentionally waking his marefriend up a few times in the middle of it. He apologized probably a countless amount of time and she said that it was okay, she couldn't blame him for being as upset as he was. When she woke up the next morning she saw that he was already awake. Cautiously she went ahead and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Like yesterday." He admitted with a sigh, getting out of bed while holding a hoof against his forehead with a wince.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, noticing it.

"No." he said simply, placing his hoof back down. "I think I'll go to Sweet Apple Acres. I need to get my mind off of things and maybe they need some help."

"That's the spirit." said Rainbow Dash with a smile, hoping that doing something that was not lying in bed all day will make him feel better. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"You don't have to. Besides I think you deserve a day off from me."

Rainbow Dash chuckled, happy to see that a bit of his self humor was back. They bid each other farewell and he headed towards Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was rather surprised to see him there, having heard about what has happened yesterday. He told her that he came there in order to see if they needed help and in order to get his mind off of what was bothering him and she gladly accepted the offer, not only because they could use the extra help but also because she wanted him to feel better.

Not saying anything else to Applejack, Paint went off to do what she told him was supposed to be done at the farm while she herself went to a different part of the orchard. Paint didn't really tell Rainbow Dash the truth earlier that morning when she asked him whether anything was wrong after seeing the way he held his hoof to his forehead. The truth was that he had a terrible headache. He thought that getting some fresh air will help him feel better but it only became worse as the morning passed. It took maybe half an hour for his headache to become unbearable, not to mention that he was feeling rather dizzy and even a little weak. Big Macintosh happened to come across him a few minutes later and he went over to the pegasus to ask him how he was feeling since he hadn't really seen him or spoken to him for about a week now, and he wanted to make sure that his friend was alright with all the drama that's been going on in his life lately.

"Hey Big Mac," answered the pegasus, offering the earth pony a small smile, "I'm fine. I just need a little time. Thanks for asking though."

Big Macintosh stared at him for a short moment and then raised an eyebrow. "Are ye sure ye're feelin' okay? Ye don't look so good."

"What're you talking about? I'm fine." despite him having said that Big Macintosh touched a hoof to his forehead, "What are you doing?" he asked, frowning slightly and moving the earth pony's hoof away with his own hoof.

"Yer forehead's boilin' with fever."

"I'm fine." he lied, even though he felt as if everything around him was spinning.

"Maybe ye should come into the house with me."

"I said I'm fine." He didn't even manage to hear what Big Macintosh said next, and after a few moments his legs gave way and he passed out.

_In Paint's mother's house_

Paint's mother was lying in bed. Ever since she found out about what her husband did yesterday she was forced the remain in bed because of her fever. Elisa soon entered the room carrying a bowl of cold water and a small towel. She soaked the towel with water before placing it on the older mare's forehead. The earth pony's fever became much higher after yesterday and it greatly concerned the housekeeper. "Can you bring Emerald here?" asked the ill mare, getting a nod from the unicorn who left the room and returned after a few moments with the sleeping foal. Elisa gently gave Emerald to her mother, who took her and let out a sigh. "I have not seen my son in over a year and now that I finally found him I still cannot see him. Is it not cruel to have him kept away from me?"

"Yes my lady, it is." said the unicorn, dipping the towel in the bowl of water again and placing it back on her mistress's forehead.

"It burns my heart." she said with a sigh, gently caressing her baby daughter. "One of the maids told me that she saw Silver here in Ponyville during Hearts and Hooves Day. Why did he not come here to see me? Did my husband tell him not to?"

"I don't know madam."

"He must have told him that I want him to focus on his studies." She let out a shaky sigh and held Emerald close. "Why is he not telling Silver that his younger brother is here?"

"I don't know." There was a short silence.

"He's taking his anger too far." Again there was a short silence. "I think it's time we told him."

"Told your husband what?"

"Not my husband. Paint should know."

"Oh, you mean..."

"Yes." said the earth pony with a nod and another sigh.

"Speaking of which…" Elisa paused, not sure of how to say what she had to say. "Do you remember that he was imprisoned in Canterlot?"

Paint's mother stared at her for a few seconds, confused. "Paint went to jail?"

"No, not him…"

"Oh…" said the earth pony after another short silence, "I remember now that you've told me. I didn't think about it before."

"Well… He's out."

The older mare stared at her housekeeper for a short moment. "He's out of prison?"

Elisa nodded. "He was released earlier because of good behavior."

"That's delightful. I always knew he was a good fellow. I wonder how he is. Do you think you'll be able to contact him for me?"

"I will try. Your husband is furious though."

"Do you think that's the reason for his behavior?"

"It may be." said the unicorn.

"Well it is only natural that he is upset, but I will still not have it." She coughed a few times, causing the unicorn to walk closer to her.

"You should rest." Without asking for the mother's permission she gently took Emerald away and placed her in a cradle. One thing was for sure, the actions of Paint's father were negatively influencing the health of his wife, and Elisa feared that her mistress's condition will worsen unless something is done with that restricting order.

_Later in the evening, in Canterlot_

Paint's father was sitting by his desk as usual. There was a knock at the door, "Come in." he said and Elisa entered, closing the door behind her. "Good evening to you Elisa."

"Good evening sir."

"If you came here in person then I guess you have something important to tell me."

"Yes sir. I was looking for your son earlier today-" she paused, "your younger son that is… He's fallen ill and has quite a fever." She used her magic to take out a folded piece of paper from the pocket of her dress. "I have a letter, written by his mother. She would like to nurse her child." All this time the stallion in front of her was looking at her with a blank expression. Elisa unfolded the letter, "She writes-" again she paused, "If I may?"

"You may not." said he, rather bluntly.

"Sir!"

"It is out of the question. Tell my wife that I can personally send a physician to examine and help him."

"Sir, I beseech you, listen to reason…"

"How is my wife?"

"Her fever's getting worse. I beg you, you need to remember that your son has been seriously ill once just because of pure stress, you're hurting him by keeping him away from his mother like that. You're hurting your wife too."

"My wife," he said with a frown, "will be perfectly fine. Is there anything else you came here to talk to me about?"

"Yes. Your wife wishes that you let Silver know about his brother. Keeping _them_ apart as well is also not doing your son any good."

"Anything else?"

Elisa was shocked at her master's indifference, but she knew to watch her mouth around those superior to her. "No sir."

"Then I bid you a good evening and a safe ride on the train back to Ponyville."

**A/N: I have a new avatar picture! *squee***

**I always liked Braeburn =]**


	11. Rock Bottom

**A/N: This chapter was **_**not**_** easy to write.**

Another day has passed and there were now three days left until Rainbow Dash's long-awaited-for tryouts for the Wonderbolts took place. We now move to a slightly different scenery which hasn't been used for a long time now; Fluttershy's cottage. To remind those of you who forgot, Rarity's little sister Sweetie Belle has been living with Fluttershy for the past 6 months because Rarity had her new job in Canterlot. In spite of how busy Rarity often was with everything she had to do, from drawing design sketches to stitching outfits, she used almost every opportunity she had in order to come to Ponyville so that she could check on her little sister and to see her friends. While sometimes she couldn't visit as often as she would have wanted to, she knew that her little sister was in safe hooves and that Fluttershy was the one she could rely on the most to take care of the little filly and to make sure that she didn't get into trouble. Even if she did come to see her often and even if she did not, Rarity wrote to her sister and her friends every day, regardless of whether she was busy as hell with work or not.

The door of the shy mare's cottage slowly opened and the fancy purple-maned unicorn in question peeked inside. Normally she told Fluttershy and the rest of her friends before coming over for a visit but this time she didn't, because there was something that Fluttershy wrote to her about yesterday which she could not ignore, and she knew that she had to come and see her. Walking inside and closing the door behind her, she cleared her throat before calling her little sister's name with that annoying tone which she always used while she was looking for her. There was noise from upstairs but it was Fluttershy who eventually came down, flapping her wings as gently as always while still hovering a few inches above the ground. "Rarity!" she exclaimed in surprise, having not really believed her ears since Rarity did after all not inform her that she was coming. She went over to her friend and gave her a hug, "I didn't expect you here!" She let the unicorn go, looking a little embarrassed, "Uh, not that I don't want you here of course, I just had no idea that you were coming… Sweetie Belle's in school so she's not here at the moment."

"That's okay Fluttershy dear, I was just making sure that she wasn't here." replied the unicorn, confusing her friend a little with her answer. She looked around, a little suspiciously, "Are you here alone?" she asked, the pink-maned pegasus nodded. "Big Macintosh isn't here right?"

Fluttershy shook her head and then looked at her friend for a moment before a deep blush appeared on her cheeks. "Rarity, is that the reason why you're here?"

"Oh please, this is like the most amazing thing that could ever happen! I just had to come!" she walked over to the timid pegasus and pulled her into another hug, causing her to softly yip in surprise. "After all it isn't every day that one of my best friends becomes engaged!" she released Fluttershy, whose face was still as red as a shiny apple.

"You didn't have to drop everything and come over here just because of that Rarity…"

"I took the week off anyways." said the unicorn with a shrug of her shoulders. "Now, I need you to tell me everything! Give me every single detail! Does anypony else know?"

Fluttershy shook her head timidly, "No, you're the only one I told this to."

Rarity gasped, "Me? I'm the first one?! Oh this is just so exciting!" There was a short silence, "Well? Details!" before Fluttershy could say anything Rarity gasped again, "Did he give you a ring? Let me see it!"

Fluttershy's face turned red once again, "Well, not a ring… I don't have fingers, or a horn… He got me this bracelet and-"

"And you're not wearing it?!" asked the unicorn with shock.

"I don't want to risk losing it or anything…"

"Fluttershy, you have to wear it! It's a symbol to your engagement and eternal love!" Fluttershy continued to blush. "Go get it!"

"Okay…" said Fluttershy with a small smile, going upstairs again and returning with a small box. She opened it and showed Rarity a golden bracelet with a pink gemstone that was shaped like a butterfly.

Rarity stared at the piece of jewelry with awe, "Fluttershy it's amazing!" Without really asking for Fluttershy's permission she used her magic to place the bracelet on her friend's right foreleg, slightly above the hoof. "It fits you perfectly!"

Fluttershy smiled and giggled, looking at her engagement bracelet. "I guess it does…"

"Of course it does! Oh, you simply must let me design your wedding dress!"

"Well, if you'd like to…"

Rarity squealed in excitement, jumping in place a few times in a manner that resembled Pinkie Pie's behavior when the pink earth pony was excited. "This is so exciting! When's the wedding?!"

"Well, uh… We haven't chosen a date yet, Big Macintosh proposed to me only yesterday in the evening…"

"I know, you wrote to me about it like immediately afterwards! Give me all the details! Was it romantic?"

"Oh yes, very, he took me to the same hill where we had our first date…"

"Aww! Does anypony else know about this?"

"No, you already asked me that… Not that I mind…"

"But Fluttershy you have to tell everypony! They'll be so excited for you!"

"Well, we decided to tell everypony today. The others are coming over to Applejack's this evening and Pinkie Pie's bringing some cake. It's kind of a group-get-together, to try and cheer Paint up a little."

"Oh, I was so excited when I got your letter yesterday that I completely forgot about him… How is he really?" asked Rarity, her excitement suddenly gone. "I haven't seen him even once ever since his family moved over…" All Rarity knew was from what was told her in the letters she received from her friends.

"Well, not too good… He got a fever yesterday while he was helping around in Sweet Apple Acres." Applejack and her brother thought it would be a good idea for him to remain at their house until his fever passed away so he remained there.

"This is just so horrible, with his parents and everything…" said Rarity with a sigh, "You know, I'd like to have a few words with that horrible stallion."

"I know Rarity, this really is horrible… I'm sure that everything will be fine once he and his mother get better."

"Yeah, I hope it will." She smiled, trying to look cheerful, "Besides, it'll be fun for all of us to hang around together again, it's been a while since we've done something like that." She giggled and nudged her friend's shoulder, "Then you can tell everypony the news!" There was a short silence. "So… How is Big Mac when… You know…"

Fluttershy's cheeks became furiously red. "Rarity!"

_Later that evening, at Applejack's house_

As planned, the mane 6, along with Paint and Big Macintosh, gathered together in the living room. Pinkie Pie brought cake. Paint's fever hasn't changed for the worse since he fell ill yesterday, but it didn't become better either. He still wasn't feeling too healthy, but he was well enough in order to be out of bed. Yesterday, sometime around the afternoon, Rainbow Dash came over to see why Paint was taking so long in coming back home. Of course that she didn't take it very well when she found out that he was sick. Since he was too weak to fly back to her house he stayed with Applejack and her family, and the apple farmers were more than glad to allow Rainbow Dash to stay there with him so that she could keep an eye on him and to see whether he was okay, which was why the rainbow-maned mare left her pet tortoise a large amount of food and water. If she remembered correctly she had once heard a talk between Paint and Elisa a few days ago in which it was mentioned that Paint had been deathly ill once, but she didn't try to make sure by asking him about that and she wasn't going to. Either way, she hoped that something like that wasn't going to happen.

Right now, however, she was trying not to think about it at all. Right now she was trying to have a good time with her friends. She and the others were very surprised when they found out that Rarity was in Ponyville, with the exception of Fluttershy who had seen the purple-maned unicorn earlier in the morning. Not that they weren't happy to see her; on the contrary, but they just didn't expect her to show up since they were used to her writing to them and letting them know before coming for a visit.

Paint hadn't really been up for any sort of activity since yesterday when he had fallen ill but he had to admit that he was happy that all of his friends were there. He was feeling better already. Eating some cake and spending time with his friends definitely helped him to stop thinking about everything that was horrible about his life at the moment. That's the reason why cake is so amazing.

At some later in the evening Fluttershy felt somepony nudge her shoulder. It was Rarity, who gave her friend a smile and a nod of excitement, silently telling her that now would be a good time for her and Big Macintosh to make the big announcement. Rarity found it rather surprising that nopony had noticed Fluttershy's engagement bracelet, which the bright-yellow pegasus was now wearing. The timid mare hesitated a little, but eventually gave in to her friend's silent encouragements and went over to her fiancé who was on the other side of the room chewing on a piece of cake by the table. She went ahead and whispered a few words to him, letting him know that she was ready if he was. He smiled at her and gave her a nod of approval. Smiling back at him, she went ahead and cleared her throat, "Um, excuse me everypony, can I have your attention for a little bit?" her quiet voice managed to catch the others' attention, somehow, and she smiled timidly at them before continuing. "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but Big Macintosh and I have something we want to tell you…" there was a short silence during which she gathered the courage it was going to take in order to make an announcement as important as hers and Big Macintosh's. "Okay, uh, you all know that Big Macintosh and I have been together for a long time now…" she looked into her fiancé's eyes with a smile, "We're-"

She was interrupted when there was a sudden knock at the door, much to the disappointment of Rarity who wanted to see her friends' reaction to the exciting news. Paint, who was the closest one to the door, got up and said "I'll get it" before walking over to the door and opening it. Elisa turned out to be the one behind the door, and Paint was rather surprised to see her as were the rest of his friends. She looked tired from overwork and it even looked as if she's been crying. "What is it?" asked Paint, confused. Without saying anything to him she used her magic to take something out of her pocket, which she placed down on a hoof Paint held out to her. He looked at the small piece of jewelry that rested on his hoof for a few moments before recognizing it as his mother's wedding bracelet, which was given to her by his father when they became engaged. The blue pegasus, looking from his mother's bracelet to Elisa a few times, did not know what to make of this. After a few more moments of looking at it his eyes went wide with horror, and Elisa was just in time to catch him as he fell forward in a faint.

_Meanwhile in Canterlot_

"Where are you going at this time of the evening Silver?" asked Paint's father, looking at his son who was heading towards the exit of their hotel room.

"The library." replied the younger stallion, pausing by the door. "I've been falling behind in my studies a little."

His father chuckled, "Maybe if you spend less time exchanging love letters with the mare you met a few days ago you won't fall behind in your studies. Then you won't have to go to the library at such a late hour."

"Her name is Twilight Sparkle dad." said Silver, his cheeks a little red. "Uh… Bye." He left and one of his father's colleagues entered just a few moments afterwards.

"What is it?"

"A letter from your wife has just arrived." said the colleague, placing an envelope on the table before leaving the room.

Paint's father opened the letter, but to his surprise found that it was written in Elisa's writing and not his wife's writing. Confused, he went ahead and began to read it.

_An hour or two earlier, in Ponyville_

Elisa, who was sitting by her mistress's bed, got up and closed the door of the bedroom. She returned over to Paint's mother who was lying in bed, again sitting down. The housekeeper was breathing heavily and shakily, and after a rather long silence she managed to get herself to talk. "Is there…" she paused, wiping a tear off her cheek, "is there anything else you want me to do?"

Paint's mother looked at her with a weak smile, "Yes, I have a few last requests from you." She looked to her side where there was a chest of drawers. "Open the top drawer." The unicorn obeyed, taking out the only thing that was in the drawer – a letter. "I want you to give this letter to my son. It will explain a few things I should have told him a long time ago."

"I'll give it to him." said the housekeeper, another tear rolling down her cheek.

"Do not cry." said the older mare with a smile, gently taking one of the unicorn's hooves in her own. "Elisa, you have always been my dearest friend. There never was or will be anypony in this world who I can trust as much as I trust you. I know that I can count on you to take good care of the house and my children." With a little effort, she took off her wedding bracelet and handed it to Elisa. "Give this to my son as well; I want him to keep hold of it."

Elisa nodded, putting the bracelet in the pocket of her uniform."If you don't mind, I will stay here with you."

"There is one last thing I want you to do for me. I want to write a letter to my husband." The housekeeper slowly nodded. "You must write it down for me though; I do not think I can do it myself." She took a piece of paper, signed her name at the bottom of it as a proof that it was from her, and handed the paper and quill to Elisa, who hesitated for a few moments but then gave a short nod to let Paint's mother know that she was ready. With a heavy sigh, the older mare began, speaking slowly enough for Elisa to be able to keep up:

"My love and dear husband, I write to you for the last time. I feel that my time is quickly running out. My case, being such, forces me to say my goodbye to you like this and not in conversation, and I am so helplessly weak that I cannot even write this last piece of communication with you on my own. It grieves me greatly that this is how you will receive the news about me, but it is not as painful as the misery you have cast me into by separating me from our son. I do pardon and forgive you for it all, and I know within my heart that the stallion with whom I have fallen in love and whose children I have borne is wiser and better than this. I beseech you to be a good father to our son Paint, as I have always desired. And lastly, know that seeing our entire family united and happy at least one time had always been what I have longed for the most, above all things."


	12. Too Much Cake

**A/N: Sorry guys, I know this chapter is a little late but I only finished writing it at like 1 AM, and since my school schedule on Sunday today starts only at the 4th lesson I figured I should go to sleep and do the proofreading in the morning.**

Everytime you think that things can't get any worse, they do get worse. If you keep telling yourself that and then it all gets worse again even when you believe that you've already hit rock bottom, then it's quite an indication that you're miserable. At that point you might again think that it can't get any worse, but by then you will probably not find any reassurance in thoughts of that sort. You might even wish that you would have dropped dead before your misfortunes began if that would have meant not having to go through so much sorrow.

Receiving the news of his mother's death had caused Paint's world to collapse right beneath his feet once more. The sad thing about it is that it's impossible to count how many times the blue pegasus had experienced that feeling using one hand (as in more than 5 times). Upon processing the truth after a long period of staring at his mother's wedding bracelet last night he fainted, as you probably remember, and he's been unconscious since then. It was now almost afternoon (of the next day), and his friends were worried sick about him. At first when he collapsed yesterday they didn't realize why, but that didn't mean that it did not startle them. After helping Elisa carry him into an empty bed that was in the house she broke the news to them but not without breaking into tears herself, finally overwhelmed by overwork, the lack of sleep and even some feelings of guilt at not being able to prevent her mistress from meeting such a sad fate.

The others eventually left (sometime later that evening) and went home very sad and depressed, except for Rainbow Dash who chose to stay and except for Applejack and Big Macintosh who, how do I say it, lived there. Elisa also remained in the house to look after Paint, leaving another maid in charge of the house and of little Emerald's welfare for the time being. It was heart aching to think that the little foal might be crying now because she wanted to be with her mother and to know that her wish was never going to be granted, that she was going to grow up without getting to know the mare who gave birth to her. What worried the housekeeper even more was that Paint's fever had reached a dangerously high level. After the night had passed the Mane 6 and Spike, who I forgot to mention as someone who was present when they were all together in Applejack's house yesterday but let's just pretend as if I did, returned to the farmhouse in order to see whether Paint was any better. They were, of course, not cheered up at all when they heard that he hasn't woken up since having fainted the night before. Just to emphasize the lack of joy let me state that Pinkie Pie hasn't smiled even once for more than, well, since the events of last night.

They were all sitting together in the living room, except for Rainbow Dash who was not in there with them at the moment and except for Paint who was still asleep in a different room. They were all not in the mood to even speak to one another and just sat there in silence. Rainbow Dash returned at some point, looking like somepony who just threw up because that was exactly what she's been doing. Again.

"Aw shucks sugarcube," said Applejack, finally breaking the silence, "Did ye just throw up ag'in?"

Rainbow Dash sighed with a frown as she sat down with her friends. "Yeah, must have been because I ate so much cake yesterday…" (To those who forgot, Pinkie Pie brought the cake. I like cake.)

"Well what did you expect when you ate more than half of the cake Dashie?" asked Pinkie Pie, who was obviously the expert when it came to cakes. Or cupcakes. Or muffins.

"I don't know. I was just really hungry, I have no idea what came over me." After asking them whether Paint had woken up while she was gone they answered her in the negative. She would have gone to see for herself but she believed them, and it was too depressing to go to check on her coltfriend just to see that he was still unconscious and that nothing has changed. Again there was silence in the room. At some point Rainbow Dash noticed that Elisa was looking at her, almost as if she was examining her. Seeing the rainbow-maned pegasus' confused expression, the housekeeper got up and walked over to her. After looking the cyan pegasus over, the unicorn whispered something to her which made her eyes widen in surprise. "What?!" she asked in shock. "No, there's no way…" a look of doubt appeared on her face and after a few seconds of silence she suddenly flew out towards Ponyville through an open window, leaving her confused friends behind.

"What's up with her?" asked Spike as they all looked at Elisa for answers, but she provided them with no explanation whatsoever.

They were about to directly ask her what was that all about when they were interrupted by the screech of a door opening upstairs. Sitting there in silence, they all stared as the noise of slow walking neared the area of the stairs, and after a short moment Paint came down. It was noticeable on his expression that he had had a rather restless night. He had his mother's bracelet around one of his forelegs, probably because he did not want to risk losing the only thing he had left of his mother. After fully descending the stairs he looked at everypony in the room and they looked back at him in silence. It was Elisa who dared break the deafening silence. "Paint, it's going to be alright…"

He looked at her for what seemed to be a very long while. "No. It's not." His voice was quite hoarse, probably as a result from his fever. He went ahead and walked towards the door, his slow walking and heavy breathing an indication that he was still not well and that being outside was probably a bad if not dangerous idea. They all looked on as he unfolded his wings and took off, landing on some cloud above the house and not coming back down.

Again there was silence in the room, and Fluttershy eventually noticed that everypony were looking at her. "What?" she asked with her quiet voice, confused.

"Well…" said Twilight, "You are the only pegasus here, maybe you should go talk to him?"

"Oh, I don't know…"

"Please," said Elisa, "he has a very high fever, he should be in bed."

Fluttershy tried to think of an excuse, but eventually she let out a quiet squeal of defeat and flew off towards the cloud. The blue stallion was there alright, and tears were flowing freely from his eyes. The timid pegasus tried to think of what she should say to him and eventually he noticed that she was there. "I didn't even get to say goodbye to her." he said simply, looking away from her and hoping that she'd leave him alone.

"I- I know, and I'm really sorry…" she walked over to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder after a short hesitation, "Can you come back into the house with me? You really should be in bed…" again he looked at her with a doubtful expression. "Pretty please?"

Paint sighed in defeat. "Okay." Nopony could resist one of Fluttershy's 'pretty pleases'. He got up and walked to the edge of the cloud but not before giving the shy mare a short hug, causing her to let out a short yelp of surprise. "Thanks Fluttershy, you're a great friend." After telling him that he was welcome the two pegasi flew back down and re-entered the house. Paint sighed as he walked towards the stairs and ascended them, "I wish Silver was here…" he said, and after a few moments there was the sound of the door of his room closing.

Twilight stood there rather dumbstruck for a short moment before looking at Elisa. "Who?"

"His older brother. He and their father are staying in Canterlot."

Twilight fell silent. It couldn't be the same pony right? What were the odds considering that the Silver went out with told her that he was staying with his father in Canterlot? Thinking about it, the purple unicorn realized that the odds were quite high and she ran out of the house, heading towards Ponyville.

"What's with everypony doing that?" asked Pinkie Pie with some hint of annoyance in her voice.

_Meanwhile in the Ponyville hospital_

Rainbow Dash was impatiently sitting on an examination bed in the hospital, waiting for the doctor to finally come back from whatever it was that he had gone to do. She hoped that the doctor would arrive and tell her that it was not true. So what if Elisa had a lot of experience and knew what she was talking about? That did not necessarily mean that she was right. The rainbow-maned pegasus kept reassuring herself by saying that she felt a little sick that morning because she had eaten too much cake yesterday and that Elisa was wrong. There was no way that it was even possible, but nevertheless the cyan mare was rather nervous.

The doctor eventually arrived and Rainbow Dash went over to him, looking quite upset as she did. "Well?" she asked, the impatience clear in her voice.

"Well, Miss Rainbow Dash, the results of the test based on your blood sample are positive." He paused for a moment as the eyes of the more in front of him widened in shock and surprise. "You're pregnant."

A long and rather awkward silence fell upon the two. Rainbow Dash continued to stare at the doctor in front of her as if in hope that he will suddenly start laughing and tell her that he was just joking around in order to mess with her a little, but he never did. Pregnant. She could not believe it. How did that happen? Maybe it was all just a bad dream and she was going to wake up soon? "No…" she said, mainly to herself at first, "No no no!" she began to nervously pace around the room, looking at the doctor every now and then. "I cannot be pregnant!"

"These tests are one hundred percent accurate Miss Dash." said the doctor simply with a blank expression, since he was used to seeing reactions of this sort. "You have also experienced being hungrier than usual and having a morning sickness today from what you've told me, and those too are an indication."

"But it just can't be! How did this happen?!"

"Do I need to give you sex education lessons Miss Dash?" asked the doctor, raising an eyebrow.

Rainbow Dash frowned. She never liked doctors. Or hospitals. "But I'm telling you-"

"Miss Dash," he said, interrupting her, "Let me ask you a few more questions." He waited for her to calm down, not speaking again until she nodded her head in approval. "Did you or did you not have intercourse?" His question was asked rather sarcastically.

"Well…" Sometimes the rainbow-maned mare really hated how straightforward doctors and nurses were with their questions. "Yeah…"

"And was it bare?" the pegasus in front of him seemed a little confused at the question, "Bare in this case means unprotected."

Rainbow Dash then understood what the doctor meant and she frowned again. "No, of course it wasn't."

The doctor's expression showed that this was not the answer he expected. "Hmm…" For the record, Rainbow Dash didn't like that about doctors either. They would always think like that as if they had a solution, but they never did. "Well, Miss Dash, something like this _is_ possible, but the odds are very, very slim. It's like… Think of it as winning one of those lotteries where the prize is a few millions of bits."

Rainbow Dash could feel one of her eyes twitch. She didn't feel like she had just won a grand lottery at all. "Maybe the test went out wrong? I mean, there's a slim chance like with what you just said right?"

"I'm afraid not Miss Dash, does tests are quite accurate."

Rainbow Dash left the hospital more upset than when she had first entered it. Stupid doctor. Stupid hospital. Everything seemed stupid. What was she going to do? She never wanted to have a foal, at least not now, and the tryouts for the Wonderbolts were to take place in two days. She couldn't risk having one of those 'morning sicknesses' ruin her chances at the tryouts, and even if she did pass the tryouts how was she going to enter the team with a baby on the way? Surely it wasn't much of an obstacle to her flying now but in a few months the fetus was going to grow and become heavier. Also, she doubted that flying as fast as she was used to and performing stunts was a safe idea when carrying a foal. Even if she did make the cut she would not be able to join the team, and who knew how long she would have to wait until another opportunity to join the Wonderbolts presented itself?

How was she going to tell this to everypony? Hopefully Elisa hasn't said anything. One thing was for sure: she was going to have to tell Paint. She didn't know how he would react to this. He was already in a bad condition as it was, and suddenly finding out that you had an unborn child that you did not plan on having might not be met with the best reactions. What if he would leave her upon finding out? No, Paint would never do that. Even though she'd already made up her mind about what to do, she still needed to talk to him first. As for her friends, she would not say anything to them for the time being (hopefully she might not have to tell them anything at all), and she was going to ask Elisa to do the same.

To her relief, when she arrived back at Sweet Apple Acres she found out that her friends had gone home, except for Big Macintosh and Applejack who were out working in the orchard. She entered the house and headed upstairs, pausing outside the door of the room where Paint was and taking a deep breath. After that she opened the door and entered. Elisa was there but was just in the process of leaving the room. The housekeeper gave the rainbow-maned pegasus a questioning look to which Rainbow Dash nodded, thus confirming Elisa's suspicions. The unicorn however left the room without saying anything and closed the door behind her, leaving Paint and Rainbow Dash alone. Paint, like always, smiled when he saw his marefriend. It may have been less than 24 hours ago that his mother had passed away, but seeing Rainbow Dash always made him smile. "Hey…" she said with a small smile of her own as she walked over and stood next to his bed.

"Hey." he answered quietly, still a little hoarse. Smiling at her again, he moved a bit away from her to make some room for her on the bed and she gladly lay there beside him, sharing a short kiss and a nuzzle.

"So how are you holding up?" she asked, wanting first of all to see how he was coping with his mother's death.

"Bad." he admitted with a sigh. "I just… I can't believe she's gone…"

Resting her head against his, she could feel that his forehead was literally boiling with fever. "I'm sorry…" She wished that she could have gotten to know his mother better.

"Don't be." He hated to hear others tell him that they were sorry, as if all of his misery was their fault. The way he saw things, it was his fault. If he hadn't run away in the first place none of this would have ever happened and his mother would still be alive. She would still be alive if he hadn't even been born.

The two fell into an awkward silence for a while after which Rainbow Dash decided that she might as well get it over with. "Paint, there's something I need to tell you…"

Her coltfriend, who had closed his eyes in the meantime, probably in an attempt to hold back tears, opened them and looked at his marefriend. "What is it?"

Rainbow Dash had already imagined how this was going to take place on the way over, as if rehearsing what she was going to say, but now that it was time to spill the beans it turned out to be more difficult than she expected. "I…" she paused, feeling as if she was about to start sweating as a result of being so nervous, "I'm… pregnant…"

The silence that time was more awkward than ever. Rainbow Dash could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she looked at her coltfriend and waited for his reaction. The look on his face was a look of surprise, something which she expected, but that didn't inform her of how he was really going to respond. He seemed to smile for a moment but then the smile was soon gone, and she could tell that, like her, he too was thinking about her upcoming tryouts. "Rainbow, I…" he paused, "I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to get you into this mess…"

"I know you didn't." she said softly.

"Don't get me wrong, it really excites me to hear this and I'm not trying to walk away from any responsibility here, but what about your tryouts in two days?"

Rainbow Dash sighed, "I know, that's what I had in mind as well." Not to mention that they weren't planning on having a foal in the first place. They weren't even married.

"So… What do you want to do?"

"Well, I've been thinking about, well…"

"An abortion?" he asked, as if having read her mind.

After a short pause she answered, "Yeah." Again there was silence.

"Look, this is absolutely your decision. I want you to be happy and being a Wonderbolt has always been your dream." Rainbow Dash could sense some sort of disappointment in his voice. She knew that he meant it when he said that her own happiness came first, but she could tell that the thought of being a father excited him greatly. "Besides, we're still young, it's not like we won't ever be able to have foals…" he paused and began to stutter, "I mean… if you'll want to, uh… I'm just saying…"

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but giggle, something she did only when they were alone with nopony else around. He was cute when he was embarrassed. "No hard feelings then?" she asked, her ears flat against her head. It's not that the thought of killing her fetus did not seem appalling, but Paint was right. The possibility of ever having a foal would always exist and an abortion isn't the end of the world.

"No, of course not, I'm here for you."

Smiling with relief, she leaned over and nuzzled her coltfriend before resting her head against his chest. "Thank you."

Later in the middle of the night she found herself lying awake in bed with her coltfriend sleeping beside her. There was no noise aside from the sound of his slow and heavy breathing. Sometimes it is possible to tell when somebody (/pony) is seriously ill just by how their breathing sounds. All of a sudden Rainbow Dash sat up, her ears catching onto the fact that the room was now absolutely silent. "Paint?" she asked quietly as she looked at her coltfriend. There was no response. "Paint?" she asked again, this time nudging him. There was no response. She shook him rather violently, but there was still no response.

Rainbow Dash woke up with a start, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. She immediately looked at her coltfriend who was lying in bed beside her, seeing that he was also awake and looking at her. Alive, he was still alive, even if it looked like it was only barely. "Rainbow?" he asked hoarsely, obviously having been woken up by her while she was dreaming. "What's wrong?"

"I…" she didn't know what to say and figured that it would be a smart move to keep her mouth shut. "Nothing." She got out of the bed, "Go back to sleep, I… I'm going to get some water…" Paint eyed her curiously before resting his head back down on his pillow and closing his eyes. Rainbow Dash left the room but she didn't really go to get a glass of water. She got out of the house and flew up, landing on a random cloud. After making sure that there was no other pegasus around, she collapsed on the cloud and uncontrollably began to cry.


	13. The Journal

The rest of the night had been a rather sleepless one for Rainbow Dash. The nightmare she experienced in the middle of it and her recently discovered pregnancy, both of which dwelt on her already irritated mind, made it impossible for her to fall asleep. Getting into the Wonderbolts had been her dream since, like, forever, so having her baby aborted was the right thing to do, right? Even Paint agreed with her, he said so himself. But as she remembered how it looked as if he was forcing himself to not try to change her mind she couldn't help but feel as if she was making the wrong decision. When she finally calmed down after having that nightmare she went back inside (to those of you who forgot she went outside after having it). Paint had already fallen asleep by the time arrived back and it took her quite a long time to fall asleep again as a result of the rather disturbing event that took place in her nightmare. She couldn't help but feel that if she fell asleep she might wake up and find out that he was dead. It was probably almost dawn when her fatigue got the better of her and she fell asleep, waking up sometime during the afternoon the next day. The tryouts, the possibility for a realization of her dreams, was to take place tomorrow in the afternoon in Cloudsdale, and her appointment at the clinic to have her baby aborted was to take place a few hours before the tryouts, in the morning.

The rainbow-maned mare panicked a little when she noticed that Paint was not in the bed beside her, but a note written by Elisa soon made her calm down. It said that she took him to see a doctor, having finally had it with him saying that he didn't like hospitals and that he did not need to see a doctor. As much as Rainbow Dash didn't like hospitals either, she was glad that the housekeeper took him to one by force. Feeling another morning sickness approaching, she rushed to the nearest bathroom. There would be no chance of doing well during the tryouts tomorrow if another one of those morning sicknesses kicked in, seeing that other side effects of them were dizziness and a rather powerful headache. Thinking about that made her again think about her appointment at the clinic, and once more those pangs of guilt began to rise in her stomach. Frowning with annoyance, she pushed any negative thought out of her mind and returned to the room, deciding to wait there until her coltfriend returned and hoping that when he did she would finally hear some good news for a change.

Entering the room and closing the door behind her, she was about to lie in bed  
(for she was still feeling rather exhausted) when she saw something slightly peeking out from beneath one of the pillows. Removing the pillow with her muzzle, she noticed that it was a small notebook. Her curiosity getting the best of her, she went ahead and opened it. There were sketches on the first pages, which caused the cyan pegasus to realize that it was just another one of her coltfriend's sketchbooks. Smiling as she looked upon the outcomes of his hobby and joy, she began to slowly flip through the pages. The content of those colorless drawings is of no importance. After the first few pages she came upon ones that had not sketches upon them, but words which were written in Paint's writing. Confused, she flipped through a few more pages, pages that also contained many words, until she arrived to empty ones that still haven't been used. Returning to the first page which was written upon, she began to read.

There was a date at the top of it, and after a few moments of thinking she noticed that the passage that followed was written on the day when Paint's mother first arrived in Ponyville.

_"I have always been more of a pony of art and less of a pony of many words. Not that I was ever the socially awkward type, but still not of many words. I've never been the type who writes a journal either, but I feel like I need to let my feelings out somehow or else I'll become insane. Hearts and Hooves Day is to take place soon and Ponyville is as cheerful as ever. Well, it is of some comfort to know that not the lives of all ponies are falling apart like my own. I managed to convince Rainbow Dash to take a walk through the city with me in spite of the fact that it repulsed her in every possible way (because of the approaching holiday). It was wonderful and all, but I should have realized that my life has become too good to be true. My mother moved into Ponyville. My entire family is moving here. This is just horrible. I did not spend half a year moving from one village to another like some homeless just for them to follow me._

_"I hate them. I hate them both. I should have known that it was never going to take them long to replace me. I watched that little foal sleeping there, and she was as happy I deserved to be when I was young but never had the chance to. It angers me. I want them all gone from here and out of my life."_

Rainbow Dash paused as she noticed that the entry ended here. There was a space of one line between this and the next one, which made her realize that the first part was written after Paint had found out that his family was moving into Ponyville and that he now had a little sister, and that the second part was written after she had forced him to talk things out with his mother (there was no date written above the second passage).

_"I am glad that Rainbow made me go over and talk to my mom. I do realize that my earlier reaction had been a rather foolish one. I should have known immediately that my mother never meant to replace me. As for my father, I can only dream that the same was true about him as well. Now I am somehow glad that my mother is here. She was so happy to see me earlier today that I feel horrible for running away in the first place. I still cannot get myself to look at my little sister and I try to avoid even talking about her. I moved in with Rainbow Dash. When I asked her earlier today if I could move in with her it was because I wanted to be away from my mother. Not that I mind the fact that she took me seriously. I'm quite happy that we're living together in the same house now and that I will see her much more often. Maybe, just maybe, this whole thing with my family might work out."_

Rainbow Dash paused. She didn't realize that she shouldn't be reading this because she first started without knowing that it was personal. After the brief pause, she continued. The date of the next entry was the date of Hearts and Hooves Day, a bit more than a week after the first entry was written.

_"The most amazing thing just happened to me earlier this morning. I ran into Cherilee who was probably trying to hide from the Cutie Marks Crusaders and whoever they tried to set her up with this year. She said that she could use some extra help around the school and asked me if I was interested. Of course I said yes. This is like the best job I could have hoped to find, I love kids. Not to mention that I'll finally be able to help Rainbow with the bills, seeing that we now live under the same room." _(Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, feeling another pang of guilt as she read the line where Paint mentioned how much he loved kids) _"Rainbow found out that there will be tryouts for the Wonderbolts next week. It seems like things are finally working out, for both of us. And yet, I cannot help but feel uneasy. My brother Silver still hasn't written to me; not even my mother or Elisa are able to reach him. I have a feeling that my father has something to do with this."_

The next entry was written the following day when Paint's mother first fell ill.

_"Today in the morning Rainbow Dash told me that she had to take my mother to the hospital yesterday because she had fallen ill. Rainbow said that the doctor said it's nothing serious and that all that my mother has to do is to stay in bed and rest until the fever goes away. We both went to visit her. Elisa was just leaving when we arrived, and Rainbow Dash also had to leave at some point to take care of the weather, leaving me alone with my mother and a few of the other maids who were somewhere around the house. At some point my little sister began to cry, but none of the maids seemed to notice. As uneasy as I felt I went to her and calmed her down. Up until then I had avoided the little foal, but as I held her and hummed a lullaby to her I realized just how happy I actually was to have a little sister. It was all great until some colleague of my father showed up. I remember this stallion in particular as somepony who never liked me. I can say that the dislike is mutual. Most of my father's colleagues and friends treated me like my father has always done; like a living doll with no emotions whatsoever. He took Emerald away from me as if I was just about to hurt her. I thought that my father's opinion of me had somewhat changed in the past year, but of course I was wrong. In his eyes I was a threat to my own sister."_

Rainbow paused again. Paint had never told her of what happened with Emerald and that rude colleague of his father. The very mention of Paint's father was enough to make her want to find him and punch all of his teeth out. The next entry was written the following day when the warrant of restriction arrived in the mail. Upon reading it, Rainbow Dash noticed that her coltfriend's writing was a little less elegant and organized than it usually was; almost as if he was shaking while he was writing the words down.

_"My father actually made his lawyer arrange a warrant that legally forbids me to come anywhere near my mother or sister. I never thought he disliked me enough to actually take things this far. I know that my mother will never approve, but I also know that trying to change my father's mind is like trying to break a wall of solid platinum by head butting it. Now I am quite certain that he's the reason why my brother still hasn't made contact with me not to mention been made aware that I'm here. I should have known that my life was getting too good to be true. The one thing I still don't know is what I have done to deserve this. I try to think of a logical explanation for my father's behavior but I cannot. He has always treated me like a bag of garbage and now I'm being thrown out of his house like one."_

The entry ended and Rainbow Dash took another pause. The more she read the more she began to think that Paint's father is a changeling rather than a pony. As much as thinking about him was disgusting, she couldn't stop. She couldn't stop trying to figure out the reason for why he was making the life of his own son so miserable. In fact she couldn't see why anypony would treat another pony like this, whether related to one another or not. Paint would never hurt a fly, she knew that, and knowing that only made the whole attempt of trying to comprehend his father's motives even more difficult. Paint wrote the next entry the day afterwards, when the stress was finally starting to get the better of him and he turned out to have a fever. The writing was similar to that of the preceding entry if not more crooked.

_"I'm in Applejack's house. I woke up with a rather heavy headache in the morning but decided to go on with what I had planned for the day and go help at Sweet Apple Acres. Big Macintosh seemed to notice that something was not right about me. He felt my forehead and said that I should probably go inside, but I refused. I didn't have much of a choice when I passed out a few moments afterwards and was carried into the house by him. I haven't done much since then and stayed in bed. Rainbow came over after a while wondering why I was not home yet. Her presence immediately offered me some comfort, but I'm still not well. Just like old times."_

There was no entry for the next day. Only the day that came after that (yesterday, to those of you who happened to lose track). That specific day for which there was no entry was the one when Paint's mother died, and he obviously was in no condition to write anything down after receiving the news of what has happened. Rainbow Dash went ahead and moved onto the next entry which, again, was written yesterday.

_"She's gone. I can't believe she's gone. I know I wasn't too happy when I first found out that my family was moving into Ponyville, but I never imagined that my mother was going to be taken away from me so soon after getting her back. From what I was told, I've been out ever since receiving the news that she was dead. I thought that so much rest would at least make me feel better, but I feel even worse as I am writing this. Elisa measured my temperature and I could tell that she was very upset with what she saw on the thermometer. I don't need to know what a piece of plastic shows to know that I'm almost as good as dead so I didn't ask her what my temperature was. I still can't believe that my mother is gone. Emerald is going to grow up never getting to know her own mother. I worry for my little sister's well being more than ever but I cannot go and take care of her, not only because it will get me thrown into prison but also because it's not safe for me to leave bed with such a high fever. It's a good thing that Elisa is around. If I can trust anypony to watch Emerald then she's that pony. At least my mother is at rest."_

There was a space of one line between this paragraph and the next one, and since there was no date written above the following paragraph Rainbow Dash knew that it was also written yesterday but at a later time of the day. As she began to read it, she realized after what particular event it was written.

_"Rainbow Dash is pregnant. That's another surprise. I kind of lost track of how many of those had occurred to me just in the past two weeks, and except for this particular one none of them were very pleasant. I was very glad when she told me that she was pregnant. I know that a foal was never a plan for the near future, but it filled me with joy that I haven't experienced in a long time. I was so excited for a moment back there that I forgot about the fact that Rainbow Dash has her tryouts for the Wonderbolts in two days from now. Having a foal is going to make it impossible for her to make it into the team and it might take years before tryouts are held again. As much as I've always wanted a foal of my own, I can't let it come in the way of Rainbow Dash's dreams. I love her, and her happiness comes before anything. Besides, it's not like having a foal will not be possible in the future. I couldn't get myself to ask her to consider not going through an abortion because I would rather see her make it into the team than raise this foal with her while knowing that she gave up this opportunity just because I wanted her to. I think that she's making the right choice and I will support her no matter what happens._

_"Ever since I ran away I promised myself that if I ever fathered a foal I would give it everything that I've never had." _(Rainbow Dash paused, feeling tears welling up in her eyes) _"If Rainbow Dash will ever want a foal I will make sure to keep up this promise. I'm writing this because I cannot imagine myself together with anypony else but her. My life without her is impossible to even think of. She's the most loyal, brave and selfless pony I've ever known."_

Again there was a space of one line which indicated the end of the passage. The next entry was also written yesterday but Rainbow Dash placed the journal down. It was heartwarming to think that this was Paint's opinion of her (the last line of the last paragraph), but she was feeling anything but loyal or selfless at the moment. Having this foal would mean so much to him and she now knew it more than well. Feeling completely helpless and unable to think of what to do, she somehow managed to relax and turned her attention back to the notebook. There was only one entry left which she hasn't read yet.

_"It's the middle of the night. I can't sleep. I'm afraid of falling asleep and not waking up. I'm more ill than I've ever been, even more ill than before I first ran away a year ago. I feel like I'm merely a corpse waiting for the gravedigger to come. I can no longer stand as my knees fail me. I cannot see as my eyes are so often filled with tears."_

The diary ended and Rainbow Dash lay there silently without saying a word. It took her a few seconds to realize that what she had just read was not meant for her eyes, but since she first identified the notebook as a sketchbook the thought never occurred to her. Feeling as if she was about to lose her mind, she placed the journal back where she found it and went to see whether Applejack and Big Macintosh needed help in the orchard, hoping that doing anything will help her think about something less depressing.

_In Canterlot, later in the evening_

Silver left the bedroom of the small hotel room and entered the small living room where his father usually worked whenever he had some paperwork to take care of. The older earth pony was there alright, his head down on the table like it had been for the past two days. Ever since his wife died he had been in quite a depression and as much as Silver hated to admit it, his father was also starting to lose his mind and go a little insane. He hadn't done any work at all in the past two days and didn't even go outside. As weird as it may sound, it was the son who was taking care of the depressed father rather than the other way around which, you'll agree, is more common. Of course that Silver too was sad about his mother's death, but his father was taking it worse than he was. This time, however, Silver was not there to check up on his father. He shook him awake rather roughly, getting his attention.

"I need some advice." He said simply, a calm expression (which looked quite fake) on his face. "I've just received a letter from Twilight. She has this, friend… his sick and she wants to know what to do. His mother died, just two days ago. What a coincidence, don't you think?" His father said nothing. "So this friend of hers… He's a pegasus, his coat is blue, his eyes are green-" he paused, letting out one of those fake laughs, "-and he's quite an artist too." Still looking his father in the eyes, he frowned. "Oh, one more thing…" Without any hesitation or shame he hoofed his father across the jaw and left the room without saying another word.

**A/N: I know that some of you are going to say in your reviews that Rainbow Dash shouldn't have read Paint's journal. I made her read it because I need her to come across what Paint truly feels about everything that has happened so far. There will be no further mention of the journal, making everything that surrounds it of no importance except for me bringing it in for my own purposes.**


	14. The Tryouts

Today was the day; the day Rainbow Dash had been waiting for her entire life. Today she will pass the tryouts and finally make it into the Wonderbolts. This was what many would call 'her big day', and many are usually nervous or somehow uneasy before their big days. The rainbow-maned pegasus in question was anything but calm. It's not that she had any doubt whatsoever about her flying capabilities, and yet for some reason she didn't feel as confident as she thought she would once the day finally arrived. Joining the Wonderbolts had always been her one and only dream, and who was a determined pony if not her? It was only natural for her to pursue her dreams and not give up, and yet she felt as if this whole thing was just wrong. Even with the fact that Paint agreed with her two days ago that she should take this opportunity she was feeling horrible. This was the thing that she had to look forward to every day (the chance to join the team), and now it was finally within her reach; so why was she feeling as if she shouldn't be doing this even if that would mean not taking an opportunity that might never return?

It was almost noon. The tryouts were to take place in a few hours in Canterlot and she had to be at the doctor's clinic in about 30 minutes. The doctor had instructed her to not eat before going to sleep because it was necessary to fast before aborting a fetus. Her friends, who were now with her in Applejack's house to wish her good luck, thought that she hadn't eaten because she was nervous about not doing well during the tryouts today. They did not know the true reason to why she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday evening. Paint knew, of course, but he spent the entire morning reassuring her and telling her how great she was going to do during the tryouts without even mentioning the abortion. The fact that he was being so supportive of her did not make her any less uneasy about the whole thing. She was still feeling uncertain about what she was doing. The only one thing that provided some comfort to her was the fact that her coltfriend was finally starting to recover; his fever having dropped drastically since returning from the doctor's appointment yesterday.

Despite how cheerful he looked Rainbow Dash still knew that, as much as he wanted her to be happy, he was also very excited (at first) about the idea of becoming a father. She did not need to see through him or to have him tell her in order to know that while he was happy for her he was also a little sad. You'll probably never hear a pony like Rainbow Dash say it, but she has never felt more uncertain in her entire life than she was now. The main reason why she insisted on not saying a word to her friends was because she feared the way they were going to react to the way she chose to act. They were the Elements of Harmony after all, and she felt as if what she was doing was completely opposing to what the Element of Loyalty should be doing. She couldn't help but feel as if she was abandoning Paint, who she truly loved with all her heart, even if he did force himself to encourage her and support the decision she had made. She didn't know if she would be able to look him in the eye after the tryouts. With a heavy heart she left Sweet Apple Acres and flew to Ponyville, the wishes of good luck from Paint and her friends only making her feel even worse about herself.

_Meanwhile in Ponyville_

Silver was wondering around the small town wondering what he should do. After confronting his father yesterday he intended to take a train to Ponyville as soon as possible but it was already too late into the evening and the train station was closed, forcing him to spend the night in Canterlot. He of course did not return to the hotel room where he and his father had been staying for the past two weeks; he rented the cheapest room he could find at an inn and then took the first available train in the morning. He has been walking in circles pretty much ever since arriving; Twilight was not in the library and Elisa was not in his mother's house and he had no idea where to find his brother. He remembered going to the big house after not finding Twilight or Spike in the library in hope to find Elisa there, but the only ones there were his little sister Emerald and a maid that was in charge of taking care of her. The maid, to his disappointed, did not know where Paint was. On the bright side he at least got the chance to check on his little sister who was crying when he arrived and recommenced crying as soon as he had to leave. The foal was comforted enough when her older brother was there but once he was gone she again cried in need for her mother to hear her and come to her.

But her mother did not hear her miserable crying and did not come. As much as it was heartbreaking for Silver to hear how sad she was he felt like he had to find his brother before he would lose another family member. He knew more than well that the death of his mother and his brother's illness were his father's fault and he would never forgive him. The thought of seeing his younger brother again, as well as the instinct to be there for him and help nurse him back to health, made the silver-coated stallion even more uneasy as he kept searching without finding anything. At some point he realized that the best option he had was to just ask random ponies and hope to eventually come across somepony who knew where his brother was. The closest pony to him upon coming to that decision was a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow-colored mane. "Hey, uh, excuse me!" he said, raising his voice a little because she was flying past him as he spoke to her.

Rainbow Dash came to a halt in the air and turned around, looking at the grey earth pony that addressed her. Silver was slightly bigger than the average stallion - not as big as Big Macintosh but somewhere in the middle. Something about him seemed familiar to Rainbow Dash, but she had never met her coltfriend's brother before. She did however see a drawing Paint drew of mother and father, to who Silver was almost as identical as one drop of water was to another drop of water. "Yes?" she asked, trying to figure out why it looked like she had already seen this stallion before.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering whether you know where I can find a pegasus named Paint? He's sick and I've been looking all over for him…" The pegasus he was talking to seemed to become slightly confused as he mentioned his brother's name. She flew over to him and landed in front of him, eying him in a way that was rather disturbing. "Um…" he said, finding the whole situation awkward. Rainbow Dash continued to stare at the earth pony for a few more moments before suddenly remembering the painting of Paint's parents (which she looked at a few times in the past). And since nopony never bothered to tell her that Silver and his father looked almost like twins it wasn't hard for her to make the mistake of thinking that she was standing face to face with the stallion who had caused her coltfriend so much misery and unhappiness. She frowned, causing the already nervous stallion in front of her to take a step backwards. "So… you don't know where he is?"

"So what now you show your nose here?" she asked aggressively. Remember how she vowed to punch the teeth out of Paint's father's mouth if she ever met him?

"Uh… What?" Silver had to admit that he had never been this scared talking to a mare before.

"Don't act all innocent like you don't know what I'm talking about!" if there was anything Rainbow Dash hated it was dishonesty and disloyalty, two qualities which Paint's father possessed in her opinion.

As much as Silver was taken aback by how angry Rainbow Dash was he was no push over and he didn't like the way she was talking to him as if he was some criminal. "Excuse me?" he asked, frowning. "I don't know what you're talking about and I would appreciate it if you stopped yelling at me."

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!" The next thing he knew Rainbow Dash's hoof made a rather tough and powerful physical contact with his eye. "What the hell?!" he asked in shock, holding a hoof to where Rainbow Dash's hoof struck.

"Now listen to me carefully you lousy excuse of a stallion because I'm only going to say it once!" If it weren't for her appointment at the clinic she would have stayed to make sure he ended up in the hospital. "Stay away from him, you hear me?! Because if you even come near him I will personally make sure you regret it!" With that she flew off, leaving the confused and still in pain earth pony behind.

"All the ponies in this town are crazy!" he exclaimed, sounding almost like Twilight when she first came into Ponyville. There were a few ponies around who had gathered as a result of his rather loud argument with Rainbow Dash. "What are you looking at?" he asked in annoyance.

"Excuse me…" came a voice from behind him and he turned around to see a purple earth pony mare approaching him.

"Yeah?" he asked while still holding a hoof to his eye, which hurt a lot.

"I… I happened to hear the… conversation…" said Cherilee, wincing as Silver removed his hoof from where he received Rainbow Dash's blow.

"How bad does it look?" he asked all of a sudden.

"Well, that's definitely going to become a black eye…" she said, noticing that the area was getting a little swollen. She took a closer look and added "It's bleeding too…"

"What were you about to say?" he asked, deciding to worry about his black eye later.

"Well, I heard what you asked her a minute ago…" In case some of you forgot, the day when Rainbow Dash's tryouts for the Wonderbolts took place was also the day for Paint to start working with Cherilee at the school. But since he had been so ill his first day on the job had to be postponed.

"You know my brother?" he asked, hopefully.

"Brother?" she asked, thinking for a moment. "Oh yeah, he talks about you often!"

"So you're his friend?" he asked. How else could she know what Paint talked about?

"Well, not a close friend… I teach the little sister of one of his close friends. You see he was supposed to start working at the school today but he couldn't since he's ill…"

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes. That student of mine, the little sister of his friend, told me that he had been staying with them ever since he had fallen ill. Today at school she told me that he was starting to get better."

"Oh, that's wonderful, thank you so much!" there was a short pause, "So, uh… Where is that house he's staying in?"

"Oh, it's at Sweet Apple Acres. You'll easily find it if you go in that direction." she said, pointing in the direction of the apple orchard, "You can't miss it; it's an enormous apple orchard."

After thanking Cherilee once more Silver took off, eventually arriving at the farm in question. Without too much delay or hesitation he went ahead and knocked at the door, which was opened a few moments later by Twilight. "You're here!" she exclaimed in delight, putting her forelegs around his neck and pulling him into a hug. They hadn't seen each other since going out during Hearts and Hooves Day and she was quite excited to see him again. When the hug ended she noticed his black eye. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, this is nothing… Is my brother here?" he asked, the excitement of seeing his brother again after an entire year clear in his voice.

"Yes, he'll be so happy to see you! I didn't tell him about the letter I wrote to you because I wanted it to be a surprise. And Pinkie said I wasn't good at surprises. Oh please!"

"Who?" he asked, confused. Twilight only chuckled and invited him in.

The others, who were still there, were a little confused when Twilight came back with a stallion they've never seen before. "Twilight?" asked Rarity in confusion, raising an eyebrow, "Who's the stud?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and didn't answer her. "Paint, can you come down here?"

_Later that evening_

"So Twilight's the reason you're here now?" asked Paint, looking at his brother. Seeing him there upon coming down the stairs earlier that day was probably the greatest joy he had experienced in a long time. He even broke into tears when he saw his brother. After introducing his brother to the rest of his friends they went upstairs to the room Paint had been staying in for the past couple of days to have some time on their own.

"Yeah. She wrote to me as soon as she found out I was your brother."

"Figures." he said with a sigh. "Dad would have never let the letters me and mom wrote reach you but he probably didn't suspect Twilight's letter."

"Forget about him." said Silver, placing a hoof on his brother's shoulder. "This is his entire fault, not yours."

Paint nodded, deciding to stop thinking about his father. "So… How does Twilight know you to begin with?"

"I was in Ponyville during Hearts and Hooves, and, well… We went out."

Paint blinked a few times. "You and Twilight?" he stopped to think for a moment, "That's a perfect match."

"We had a wonderful time, and we have so much in common."

Paint smiled, "I know." There was a short pause, "So are you going to tell me how you got that black eye or not?"

Silver was about to answer when loud talking was heard downstairs in the leaving room. Rainbow Dash, who had probably just arrived back from her tryouts, was asking her friends where Paint was. Her friends were throwing questions like 'how did it go?' or 'did you pass?' but she did not answer them. Silver recognized her voice, and his eyes went wide as he heard the sound of Rainbow Dash's hooves as she ascended the stairs. "Sweet Celestia no…" he said, his voice a whisper as he got to his hooves.

"What's the matter?" Paint asked, confused.

The door opened. As soon as Rainbow Dash saw Silver an expression of anger appeared on her face. "You!"

"Me?!" he asked, gulping.

"I am going to kill you!" she flew at him but he jumped aside, causing her to nearly fly into the wall.

"Get away from me you crazy-" his sentence was interrupted by a yelp which resulted from Rainbow Dash trying to get her hooves on him again, causing him to run outside the room and down the hallway.

"Get over here!" she yelled, flying right after him. Paint, more confused than he's ever been in his entire life, ran after the two. When he caught up to them Silver was cornered at the end of the hallway with nowhere to run. "I have you now!"

"You think I mind hitting a mare?!" he rose to his hind legs, his forelegs forward in a boxer's position. "Come on, put 'em up!"

"Rainbow, what are you doing?" asked Paint, getting their attention.

"Giving your lame excuse of a father the beating he deserves!" she said, not taking her eyes off the earth pony in front of her.

"Rainbow, did you hoof my brother in the eye?" he asked with a sigh.

"Yes, I can proudly say that I-" she paused and turned around to look at him. "Your brother?" Paint nodded. "No, that's your father… I saw your drawing of him."

"My dad and Silver are like two drops of water." He said with a chuckle.

"That's not funny…" said Silver in annoyance.

"I'm so sorry…" said Rainbow Dash, turning back to face the relieved earth pony, "I thought you were his father and, well… I really hate him."

"If it makes you feel any better," said the gray earth pony, "I kind of hoofed him myself."

"You were asking if I was here just a minute ago weren't you?" asked Paint, looking at Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah… I need to talk to you."

Paint looked at his brother, "Why don't you go downstairs and be with everypony else?" Silver nodded and went downstairs. Paint and Rainbow Dash went back into his room and he closed the door behind them. "So how did the tryouts go?"

Rainbow Dash was silent for a few moments. "I passed." She said, a smile on her face.

"Rainbow, that's great!" he said, hugging her and letting go after a few seconds so that he could look at her again. "So how's it going to work? Did you sign or anything? When are you starting?"

"I didn't sign." She said with an imperceptible shake of her head.

"What do you mean?" asked Paint, confused, "You said you passed."

Rainbow Dash, much to his confusion, smiled. She smiled even though she had basically just told him that she passed the tryouts and yet did not join the team she has been wishing to get into since she was a foal. "I didn't abort the baby." She said, getting a shocked expression as an answer.

"You…" he began and paused, trying to figure out whether he was dreaming or not, "you didn't?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I was sitting outside waiting for the doctor to call me in and I just couldn't…"

"But what about your dream Rainbow?"

"I don't care; I'll wait until tryouts are held again." She let out a sigh and then smiled. "I want to have this foal with you."

"Really?" asked Paint, a small smile spreading across his lips as his marefriend nodded with a smile of her own. Feeling happier than he had ever felt in his entire life he pulled his marefriend into a deep, passionate kiss.

"Paint?" she asked softly after the kiss ended.

"Yes Rainbow?"

"Do you think we can finally move back into my house? I mean I'm very grateful to Applejack for letting you stay and I don't want to offend her but being here all the time is getting a little depressing…" Paint chuckled and nodded, kissing his marefriend again.

The two pegasi did not tell everypony that Rainbow Dash was pregnant. They figured that they should make the announcement in a few days so to give themselves some time to recover from everything that has happened in the past week. There was still the whole restricting order to take care of but Silver was rather certain that he would be able to find a way to deal with it, having gotten into the subject of statutory law during his studies. Twilight was slightly worried about where Silver will be able to spend the night after confronting his father but he said that he'll spend it at his father's house in Ponyville whether his father liked it or not. Besides, Twilight had bigger things to worry about; like Rarity who kept asking her for details about how she and Silver first met each other.

Everypony went to their homes but before Paint and Rainbow Dash could leave Elisa called the blue pegasus over. She handed him a small envelope. "This letter was written to you by your mother before she died." He took the envelope and placed it in his saddlebag, wondering what could be possibly written in the letter. "I would have given it to you earlier but I forgot, with everything that's been going on…"

"That's fine Elisa; I'll read it first thing in the morning." He said with a smile. "Thanks for everything you've done for my mother and me." He returned to his marefriend's side and the two flew home. They entered and Paint placed his saddlebag down, looking around as if he hadn't been in the cloud house for years. "It's good to be back."

Rainbow Dash giggled and walked over to him, whispering something in his ear that made him grin sheepishly. "If you think you're healthy enough for it…" she added with a seductive smile.

"Is that a challenge?"

**A/N: This story is not over yet. There are still a few more chapters left. **


	15. The Letter

Paint woke up the following morning feeling better than he has ever felt for quite a while now. All traces of fever and sickness were completely gone. In the past few days he had quite naturally grown to miss the feeling of waking up in the morning feeling great rather than waking up in the morning feeling as if he was lucky to have even woken up. He stretched and let out a yawn before looking at Rainbow Dash who was still asleep next to him. It was not yet physically visible that she was carrying a foal but she was. She was carrying their foal. Just thinking about it brought him joy. He could not even begin to try to think of a way to express how much it meant to him that she ended up keeping the baby and not going through with that abortion. Despite him telling her to pursue her dream she kept the foal, and even though she seemed to have decided that on her own he still felt as if he would never be able to express his gratitude.

He kissed his sleeping marefriend once on the forehead before getting out of bed and going over to his saddlebag which was in a corner of the bedroom. There was still something he needed to do. He opened it and took out the letter his mother had written to him before she died. Whatever it was that was written in it, Elisa's body language when she handed it to him yesterday suggested that there was more to it than just a regular goodbye and wishes for good fortune. Feeling somewhat hesitant he tore the envelope open, brought out the letter and began to read it.

_"Paint, my beloved son, what you are about to read is something I would have much preferred to say to you myself, however I am not able to because of what my husband has done and I fear that I might never be able to. I am writing this letter to you just to be sure that you will hear it all from me and not from anypony else. If you are reading this then you probably already know that I am gone and that writing this letter was not a waste of whatever time I have left in this world. I know that this is something that should be talked about in person. It is also something that I should have told you a long time ago. I do not know how you will react, and I probably never will know._

_"My husband, the stallion who you viewed as your father your entire life, is not your real father."_

Paint stopped reading and placed the sheet of paper down on the floor. His father was not really his father? On one hoof knowing that that horrible stallion was not his father was a relief, but it was also a shock nonetheless. There were so many questions that flooded his mind upon finding out that he was an illegitimate son. How did it all happen? Did his mother cheat on her husband? Did Elisa know? Did his older brother know? And most importantly why did they all wait so long to tell him something that would have made things much clearer for him? Feeling more confused than he has ever felt in his entire life, he lay down in front of the letter and continued reading it.

_"I know it must be a shock to hear this, whether you did and whether you did not ever wonder why were you born a pegasus to parents who are both earth ponies. You must be asking yourself how you came to be, and I do not doubt that the first thought that comes to your mind is that you were born as a result of an affair. You were not. I have always remained faithful to your stepfather. It may make it even worse in your eyes but I think that you deserve to know it all. I was raped. You must be wondering whether everypony close to us knew, so let me tell you that they did. Both Elisa and Silver knew. You did not think that the circumstances regarding how you were born would make them love you less did you? Silver has always loved you regardless of the fact that you do not share the same father. I must say that Elisa's attitude towards you was what surprised me the most, but in order for you to understand what I mean I must first tell you about your real father and how it all happened._

_"I have known your real father for quite a long time before his trial and imprisonment (both of which occurred after he ended up forcing himself upon me). He is a pegasus, in case you were wondering, and he used to work for your stepfather. When it all happened, 12 months before you were born, he was about as old as you were before running away about a year ago. You probably realize that this means he is much younger than my husband and me. Your brother is a few years younger than him. His age is hardly the age where mares or stallions have foals. I know that you must be thinking that he is an unreliable stallion and a criminal, but that is not the case. Your father was, and probably still is, a very kind and caring stallion. He was working for your stepfather in order to save money to pay for studying for a degree teaching degree. Whenever I asked him why he couldn't just ask his parents to help him he told me that he wanted to earn it himself. He was a hard worker, and my husband used to call him his most trusted employee. What I'm telling you now must be making you even more confused. The way in which I'm describing your father is probably making it seem impossible that he ended up doing what he had done to me. I will get to that shortly._

_"Your father even acted as a foalsitter for your brother a couple of times. Yes, I know that your brother was not a little colt anymore by that time, but he was still an energetic kid who liked to mess up the house (as much as it doesn't make sense, seeing that now he likes to study so much). There were, of course, Elisa and the rest of the maids, but they could sometimes get too busy with their chores in order to watch your brother while my husband and I were absent. Elisa too was a young mare back then. She and your father are almost as old as one another, with the difference of a few months if I remember correctly. After a few times of him foalsitting for us I noticed that he and Elisa were talking to each other quite often. They seemed to have developed quite a crush on each other. I always thought that looking at you would remind her of what could have been between her and your father but she still cared for you with all the affection with which she helped raise your brother._

_"One day I came over to see your stepfather during his day of work and to my surprise I could not see your father anywhere. I asked my husband where he was and whether anything bad has happened, since as far as I remembered he was supposed to work that day. Your stepfather said that there was some sort of horrible accident and that your father's parents (your grandparents) and your father's little brother (your uncle) were killed. The way he calmly said it shocked me, and since he refused to go to check up on his employee because he was 'too busy' I went to check up on him myself. Your father has always been the type who stayed away from alcohol, much like yourself, but when I found him he was completely drunk. He probably didn't know how to deal with the tragedy and just ended up drinking in hope that it will somehow make him forget. He wasn't too aware of what he was doing nor was he in control of himself, and I guess that you can figure out what happened next. I was physically weaker than him and there wasn't much I could do to stop him._

_"When I returned home I somehow managed to look as if nothing has happened, regardless of the fact that deep inside I was falling apart. By some stroke of luck even Elisa failed to notice that something was wrong with me. I hardly slept that night, but I did make up my mind. I made up my mind to pretend as if nothing has ever happened. I wasn't happy about what he did but I knew that he was drunk and couldn't control his actions. I'm not saying that what he did was not wrong just because he was drunk, but I forgave him. I knew that if anypony found out he would be sent to jail and that that would ruin his future and his chances of ever getting into university, and he had so much potential that helping him felt like the right thing to do. The following morning I went to his parents' house again, knowing that he would be sober and that there was no reason for me to fear being around him. Despite how drunk he had been the previous night he seemed to remember what he had done because he turned away from me in shame when I entered the house. I approached him anyway and he threw himself at my hooves, begging me to forgive him for his actions. I said that I forgave him and I told him that I will gladly not say anything to anypony (It was only a month later that I realized I was pregnant). Any other stallion would have most likely agreed to my proposal but he refused, saying that he had to take responsibility for what he had done. He refused to have me defend him in any way._

_"The following day he went to the police station and confessed his actions. At first they thought he was some crazy teenager trying to pull a prank on them but they must have realized that he was serious. They arrested him and sent an officer to question me. Unlike my husband and everypony else in our house the police officer could tell that I was lying. Your father's trial didn't last for very long because of the fact that he confessed. Your stepfather, who was furious when he found out, asked the judge to imprison your father as far away from our family as possible. The judge agreed and your father was imprisoned in Canterlot. When I found out I was pregnant I went to a special doctor to see whether you belonged to my husband or not. When we found out that you were not your stepfather's son my husband suggested that I aborted you. I strictly refused, much to his discontent. In my opinion all life is sacred, and I wasn't going to take away your right to live just because you were illegitimate._

_"It has recently come to my attention that your father is now out of jail. I know that you might not want to, but I think you should try to meet him. He doesn't know that he has a son because he was sent away to the prison in Canterlot before I found out I was pregnant, but I know that he will be very happy to meet you (after all, he has no family). I want you to remember what I have written to you in favor of your father and I want you to give him the chance he deserves. He really is a kind-hearted and good-natured stallion and I am sure that in him you will find the father you've never had. A few days ago I asked Elisa to try and find the address of whatever inn he must be staying in. You should ask her whether she has managed to locate him or not. Nopony will force you to go meet him, but I think you should. I know you will not regret it._

_"Lastly, I want to apologize. I want to apologize for not realizing how miserable you were before running away and I know that I should have told you about your real father a long time ago. I hope that you will find in your heart the strength to forgive me for not noticing my own son's misery. I will always love you as much as I love your brother and sister."_

The letter ended. Paint continued to silently lie there in front of the sheet of paper for quite a while, not knowing what he should do or think. One thing was for sure; knowing that that horrible stallion who he thought was his father was not his father was quite a reason to be happy. Reaching for the open envelope again he noticed that there was something else in it. It was a small note from Elisa with an address on it. He looked from the note to the letter a few times, not knowing whether he should go and meet his father or not. After considering it for quite a long moment he decided that getting to know his father would be the more mature decision. Plus he really wanted to get to meet his real father and get to know him.

Rainbow Dash woke up eventually and her coltfriend greeted her with a loving kiss. She could tell that he was more excited than usual and then he told her about his mother's letter. It was naturally surprising for her to find out that his mother's husband was not his real father and she was even more surprised to hear that Paint actually wanted to go to Canterlot to meet him. "Do you want me to come with you?" she asked, wanting to be there for her coltfriend in case he needed her.

Paint smiled but slowly shook his head. "This is something I have to do on my own." He kissed her again, "It's really amazing by the way, that you kept the foal."

Rainbow Dash smiled. "I just hope it'll be more like me and not an egghead like you."

Paint chuckled, knowing that she was kidding. "I should probably get going."

Paint was usually somepony who always stopped to admire the scenery (and sometimes even draw it), but on the train ride he found himself too excited to focus on anything else beside the address note which was now in his saddlebag. A train ride from Ponyville to Canterlot isn't very long but his excitement made it seem like it was taking forever. Since he has never really been to Canterlot (having only gone there once for the Grand Galloping Gala), it took him quite a while to get his bearings and to find the street he was supposed to go to. He looked at the note with the address on it again, which even had a room number on it, and located the inn his father was probably staying in after a few minutes. It was a rather small and humble looking inn, but it was rather predictable considering the fact that the pegasus he was looking for had only recently gotten out of jail and probably had a simple job that forced him to be careful with his expenses.

Since the inn was a small one it didn't take Paint too long to find the room he was looking for. He stood in front of the door for quite a while, feeling rather nervous, before knocking at the door. He waited for a few moments and there was no response so he knocked at the door again, but there was still no response. Well, it was the middle of the day so his father was probably out working somewhere. It looked like he would have to wait until later in order to meet him. Not seeing another way to pass the time he lay down on a simple-looking wooden bench that was in the hallway and began to draw random sketches in his sketchbook. Eventually an inn worker whose job was to go through the guests' rooms every day and clean it arrived. When she opened the room where Paint's father was staying both she and Paint were horrified at what lay behind the door. The room was a complete mess. It looked as if the place has been robbed. "What happened here?" asked Paint in shock, getting up and walking over to the cleaner who was standing at the door with her jaw almost hitting the floor.

"I don't know." Said the older mare, so shocked that she didn't bother to look at the pegasus who was talking to her. Paint had to admit that the room looked like a bar fight had taken place in it, and it gave him a rather bad feeling. "I better go call the police." With that the mare ran off, leaving the pegasus alone. What should he make of this?

After a while of thinking he decided to go see his stepfather. Something was giving him the feeling that he had something to do with this. And even if he didn't, it was about time Paint faced him.

He knew the address of the hotel his stepfather was staying in, having sent the letters that were meant to reach his brother to that address. When he arrived at the hotel there was a carriage standing outside, a carriage which Paint recognized to belong to his stepfather's company. There were a few stallions next to it, the type of dubious and mean looking stallions that would do anything you told them to for just a little bit of cash which they would usually spend on alcohol or prostitutes. Paint did not know what his stepfather had to do with ponies like them, but whatever it was it could not be good.

He hid himself when his stepfather walked out of the hotel, and he had a few moments to study him. The gray earth pony looked as if he hadn't slept for a few days and, like Silver said, as if he had gone completely crazy. "Well?" asked Paint's step father, looking at one of the earth ponies that were by his carriage who seemed like he was the leader of the gang.

"It is done." replied the latter simply.

"Good." said Paint's father with a smile that was rather creepy. "Where is he?"

"He's in the back of the carriage. What do you want us to do?"

"You boys are coming with me on a little road trip." With that they all got into the carriage with the exception of two of the gang members who remained outside to pull the carriage. Luckily Paint's wings allowed him to follow them from above without being noticed.

The carriage drove on and eventually left Canterlot, heading out in the direction of what appeared to be, well, nothing. It drove on and on for what seemed to be like hours. By the time the carriage stopped it was already beginning to get dark and Paint was rather exhausted from flying for such a long time. The carriage came to a halt by what seemed to be an ancient and rather old-fashioned looking castle. As far as Paint could tell it could be centuries old. His curiosity building up, he grabbed a cloud that was nearby in the sky and slowly brought it towards the castle so that he could rest on it while also staying out of sight and looking at what was going on.

His step father came out of the carriage after a few moments followed by his hired goons. "Get him out of the carriage." ordered the gray earth pony. The gang members went into the back of the carriage and came back out after a few moments, and to Paint's horror they had a tied-up and unconscious pegasus with them. "Wake him up."

Paint looked on, rather dumbstruck. The captured pegasus woke up after a few moments. "Where am I?" he asked, obviously confused. He looked at one of the gang members with a frown, still not noticing that Paint's stepfather was there. "Where did you take me?" it was then that he noticed the earth pony who was the reason why he had been kidnapped in the first place. "You!" he exclaimed, his eyes becoming wide with horror.

"That's right…" said Paint's stepfather, a sinister smile across his face, "Did you miss me you _scum_?"

The pegasus gulped, "Uh… So how is everypony?"

"My wife is dead." said the angry looking earth pony with a frown, causing the pegasus to gulp once more. "This is your entire fault."

"My fault?!"

"Yes. If it weren't for you none of this would have ever happened. I was forced to raise that ignorant child as if he was my own and if it weren't for him my wife would still be alive."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please, even you are not so foolish. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"You mean that-"

"Yes!" exclaimed the earth pony with rage. "I had to take care of that little parasite as if he was my own."

"If you touch him I will kill you!"

Paint's stepfather only laughed. "For all I know your son could be dead. At least I hope he is." He looked at the helpless pegasus in front of him with a teasing grin. "What's the matter? Are you happy to find out that you're not all alone in this world?" he leaned over until their muzzles were almost touching each other, "Does it fill the big and empty hole in your life?" he paused, growling at the pegasus. "He looks so much like you that it sickens me."

"Where are we? Why did you bring me here?" asked Paint's father, looking worried.

"I brought you here so that I can do as I please with you." He began to snicker, "And the best part is that nopony will ever come looking for you."

"Y-you're crazy!" Paint's stepfather only laughed and then ordered his goons to take the helpless pegasus into the castle. "You'll never get away with this! Let me go!" The gang members did not listen to him though. These types of ponies only listen to those who pay them. Two of them carried him inside, easily ignoring the way he was struggling because his wings and his legs were tied up. Paint's stepfather ordered the rest of the gang members to stand watch at the entrance of the castle while he himself went inside after the two who were dragging Paint's father.

Paint, whose face was covered in sweat, helplessly looked as his father was taken into the abandoned castle. He had to do something to help him. To his dismay he noticed that all the windows of the castles have been bolted with woods and nails, and the only way to get inside the castle was the entrance which was guarded by ponies who would kill another pony just for a few bits.


	16. The Abandoned Castle

The first thought that occurred to Paint as he continued to lie there on the cloud was 'what I should do'. Well, it was obvious what he _should_ do; the main question was how. Maybe the better idea would be to fly back to Cloudsdale and get help? No, there might not be enough time for that, and while Paint was getting the impression that his stepfather was going to keep his father a prisoner for some time before really hurting him he couldn't take the risk. He looked down towards the ground once again; the ponies hired by his stepfather were still there alright, and it didn't look like they were going to stop guarding the door anytime soon. By now the sound of his father's struggling and of his stepfather's insane laughter died within the castle, and the only noise detectable was that of crickets and of the stallions who were standing at the entrance and talking. They seemed to be lighting cigarettes and opening bottles of beer, and Paint began considering the possibility of waiting until they were too drunk to notice him in order to sneak past them. No, that would be way too risky, they might see him. Also there was the chance that his stepfather and that other gang member who went inside with him might come out just when Paint will try to sneak inside, and he couldn't risk that either. There had to be another way to get inside.

The nervous pegasus began scanning the large castle again, still shocked at the fact that his stepfather actually bolted all of the windows before beginning to execute his plans for vengeance. The windows were nailed shut with wooden planks, and one of the windows caught Paint's attention. Unlike the other windows, which were blocked with several planks, this one was sealed off with only one plank. That window was smaller than the others so one plank was enough to obstruct it. After a small hesitation Paint quietly flew over and inspected the piece of wood. It seemed old and the blue pegasus was certain that he'll be able to break it. Breaking it however might cause a noise which will be loud enough to catch the attention of the earth ponies who were guarding the entrance, and by the time Paint will fly inside they will catch sight of him. He flew back to the cloud and thought for a moment before realizing that the best option would be to fly directly at the wooden plank, thus breaking it and making his entrance at the same time. It might hurt a little, but there really was no other way to get inside.

After taking a deep and stretching his wings he executed his plan. The wooden plank broke with a loud crack and he found himself inside. He let out a sigh of relief, but that relief didn't last long.

"Who's there?!" came a call from below, most likely from the castle's entrance. Paint stood completely still, sweat beginning to appear on his forehead. He listened carefully, his heart skipping a bit.

"What are you talking about?" came the voice of another stallion from below.

"I think I saw a pegasus fly inside just now." replied the first voice.

There was a short silence after which a few of the stallions by the entrance began to laugh. "Dude, you're seeing things already? You only opened your beer just a minute ago." said another stallion.

"That's not my first, I drank some in the afternoon too."

"Who the hay drinks in the middle of the day?" asked another as the group broke into laughter once more.

Paint sighed in relief. That stallion may have noticed him, but he was so drunk that his friends didn't believe him and after a few moments he was laughing along with them as if he really had been imagining things. Paint had to admit that the way they were just 'hanging around' while knowing that inside the castle there was another pony who was probably going to get murdered gave him the creeps. There were no traces of humanity or morality in those stallions whatsoever.

Paint finally allowed himself to calm down and he looked around for the first time. He seemed to be in what had been a bedroom back when the old and abandoned castle was still being used. There were paintings on the walls, fancy-looking furniture and the bed sheets were made of red silk. Other than that there weren't any more details of the room Paint was able to notice because it was really dark inside. The sun was almost completely gone by then, which meant that in a few minutes it will be even darker. Paint noticed a few candlesticks by the bed with candles on them so he opened his saddlebag and got out his lighter. He didn't smoke but he always carried one just in case he would need to start a fire. After lighting all of the candles he placed them in different spots across the room so to spread their light better. Walking around the castle looking for his father will not be too easy while holding a candlestick in his mouth, not to mention that the candles were already nearly-consumed when he found them and that they were not going to last for very long.

He began looking through the closets and the drawers in hope to find candles that would last longer. While he didn't find candles he did find an old lantern in one of the drawers and, to his joy, there was a candle in it large enough to last for a few hours. He grabbed it in his mouth by the handle and placed it on the floor before opening the lantern, lighting the candle that was in it. Noticing a small piece of old cloth on the floor he grabbed it and placed it over his neck, deciding to take it with him in order to place it on top of the lantern in case it would prove necessary. That way he'll be able to 'turn off' the lantern's light which will help him hide in case it was he needed to, and simply placing something over the lantern will be a faster method than opening it and blowing out the candle.

Now that he was all set, he grabbed the lantern in his mouth by the handle once more and headed towards the door, which he slowly opened as the sound of its screeching sent a shiver down his spine. The long hallway was even darker than the bedroom because the only window in it, which was sealed, was at the end of the hallway. It sure was a good thing that he had that lantern with him. Paint remembered reading about old castles once. Usually the prison cells and torture chambers were located underground, which meant that his goal at the moment was to find the stairs and, of course, not get caught. He was scared, there was no denying that. He was scared of never coming out of that creepy castle, of getting caught, of reaching his father and finding out that he was too late. "I have to do this." He kept thinking to himself as he quietly walked towards the other side of the hallway.

He opened every door on the way, making sure to do it slowly and to cover his lantern with the piece of cloth as he did. Even though it was completely silent around him he felt like he should be cautious. After noticing that the room he was looking into was not a stairwell he would pick up his lantern again and move on to the next one. The last door in the hallway was a heavier one which finally led Paint to a stairwell. Without thinking twice he began descending it. To his surprise he kept going down without coming across a door. He remembered reading that there were sometimes stairwells which connected only the top floor and the underground floor, and this had to be one of them.

Eventually he reached the bottom of the stairs. While the chances of running into his stepfather or any of the gang members on the top floor were rather low, down here where they probably locked his father up the chances were going to be much higher. He would have to be even more careful from this point. After taking in a deep breath he opened the door which creaked loudly as he did, causing him to stand completely still for a few moments in order to try to hear whether anypony had heard the noise. He began to walk and entered a small and empty room with another door on the other side of it. There didn't seem like there was any purpose to this room. He opened the next door, which led to a long corridor with prison cells on both sides of it. This was the prison area alright. Paint slowly proceeded, inspecting every cell and making sure to be as quiet as he possibly could while also listening out for other ponies' hoofsteps. He reached the end of the hallway without finding anypony in any of the cells, much to his disappointment as well as concern.

When he entered the next room a large chamber was revealed to him. There was a fireplace in the corner of the chamber that was not lit. What made it different from any other part of the castle Paint had been to by then was that it was not dark. The light was coming from a chandelier hanging from the ceiling above the middle of the room, and the fact that it was lit indicated that somepony had recently been there. This obviously made Paint quite nervous, but at the same time it meant that he might be getting closer to finding his father. It also meant that every room or hallway that had turned on sources of light in them was a room or hallway where his stepfather or one of the gang members had recently been in.

He closed the door behind him, and then his heart skipped a beat when the noise of the door being shut was followed by somepony's voice. "W-wh-who are you? Who's there?" Paint's instinct nearly made him turn around and run, but the lack of the sound of hoofsteps heading in his direction made him realize who had just addressed him. He took a few steps forward before noticing the small cell in the room, and his father was in it. He was tied up and blindfolded, and he was obviously scared about hearing somepony approaching his cell. This was Paint's first chance to really take a close look at his father. The pegasus in the cell had a blue coat and his mane and tale were of a different shade of blue. This resembled Paint a lot since that physical description fitted him as well. The only difference he could see between them was the colors of their coats as well as their manes and tails. Yes, they were both blue, but not the same blue. "Please… Let me go, I didn't do anything to you…" The blindfolded pegasus sounded terrified as he begged for mercy. Paint tried to open the door but silently swore to himself as he realized that it was locked. How in the name of Celestia was he supposed to get the key?

What a way to meet your father for the first time. "Calm down, I'm here to get you out." he said quietly, as if in fear that anypony might hear them.

"Really?!" asked his father in joy.

"Ssh, you have to be quiet." said Paint worriedly.

"You don't sound like one of those drunkards."

"I'm not, I…" he hesitated, "I… I saw them put you in that carriage." There was a short pause, "I just need to find the key…"

"I owe you one bro, really…" said the blindfolded pegasus, sounding as if he was about to cry in joy, "Look out for the gray earth pony, that demon… He may still be close. This place is like a maze but I remember that he and the other one who dragged me here kept lighting up candles and other light sources along the path. You should follow the light."

The word 'still' sent a shiver up Paint's spine. "That's what I was thinking. Thanks." It seemed like they even shared the same way of thinking. It made Paint smile a little, but he had more important things to worry about.

"No, thank you. Oh, and don't worry, if anypony comes down here I never saw you."

Paint picked up his lantern and turned around. On the other side of the room there were a few doors which probably led to different hallways and corridors. Paint knew that in castles like this all corridors are somehow connected, even if it doesn't look like it. He would have to not only be careful of what might be ahead of him but to also watch his back. Paint decided to take the door on the left. He slowly opened it and walked through an empty hallway. Taking a turn to the left after walking for a few moments, he noticed a door made of metal bars which resembled the door of a prison cell. There was a lock in the spot where the lock usually goes, but Paint noticed that it was broken and easily took it off. He opened the door and continued walking until he came across what seemed to be an elevator shaft. "Wow…" he said with awe, "This has to be one of the first elevators ever made…" Another thing he knew about elevators was that they always led to the first and main floor – the floor where he'll most likely be able to find his stepfather and the key he was looking for. On the wall next to the closed elevator door was a lever which should summon the elevator. He pulled it downwards but nothing happened. Elevators that old had rather complex machinery, and since it was so old it wasn't a surprise that nothing happened after lowering the lever. Something must have fallen out of place in the machine that powers the elevator.

Returning to the room where his father's cell was he went ahead and took a different door. What he saw at the end of the hallway was a staircase. The hallway was fully lit with torches. He gulped. This was it. There isn't much to say now; he kept following the light, jumping with a start and taking cover behind a box or a couch every time he heard a noise.

Eventually he began to hear talking and he realized that he was approaching the entrance of the castle. He stopped in front of the door of the room he was in before placing the lantern down and covering it with the piece of cloth. After that he slowly opened the door and carefully took a peek. There was the entrance, right in front of him. The gang members were there, looking completely drunk. His eyes widened in delight when he saw that there was a table by the entrance behind them with an old key on it. That had to be the key he was looking for. He didn't know how did his stepfather come to decide to let it out of his sight but he didn't care. Leaving his lantern behind, he slowly flew into the air, deciding that by doing that he would make far less noise. He slowly made his way towards the table, praying deep in his heart that the stallions by the entrance won't suddenly turn around and see him. He reached the table after a very suspenseful minute, picked up the key in his mouth and flew back over to the room he came from, silently closing the door behind him and putting the key in his saddlebag. Sighing in relief, he retook his lantern and began retracing his steps. He still hasn't seen a sign of his stepfather, and while it was very troubling it also offered some comfort.

Just as he recognized that he was getting close to the staircase that led to his father and just as he began to think that this whole nightmare was over he caught onto the noise of hoofsteps ahead of him. Somepony was somewhere between him and the staircase, and he was heading in Paint's direction. Paint panicked, and immediately went through the first door he could find. In his haste he forgot to open the door slowly, causing it to make quite a noise. "Who's there?!" came a voice; his stepfather's voice.

Paint immediately covered the lantern and, still holding it in his mouth, began to fly towards the end of the hallway he was now in. He could hear the earth pony's hoofsteps behind him, and luckily the hallway took a turn before he was spotted. His stepfather was still following him though. Paint kept flying without looking back but came to a stop as he passed an open door, because it wasn't just a regular door. It was the type of 19th-century doors that were lifted up or sealed shut by pulling a lever. Paint took a quick look, and to his joy noticed that the lever was not on the side of the door from which he had come from. Closing it or opening it would not be possible for his stepfather. He reached for the lever and tried to lower it with both of his front legs, but to his horror the lever was stuck. "Come on…" he muttered to himself, trying again.

His stepfather's hoofsteps kept coming closer and then he appeared around the corner. Paint froze as the earth pony's eyes locked with his own. He stood there completely still, his forelegs still on the lever as his heart started beating so hard that he was able to feel the pulse in his head. "I had a feeling you'd show up…" said the earth pony, finally breaking the silence. Paint watched silently as his stepfather got something out of a small bag he was carrying. It was a bracelet made of steel. The gray earth pony placed it on his leg, above his hoof, and Paint's eyes widened when he saw that there was a sharp blade attached to it. He continued to stand there perfectly still, like a helpless pony trying not to make any sudden moves so to not alert the predator. His stepfather looked at him once more and began to laugh a psychopathic laugher. "Come here!"

Paint tried to lower the lever once more but it was still stuck. He rose into the air using his wings and forced his entire weight on the lever, which then finally gave way. The door came down between the two stallions just a second before it was too late, causing the crazy earth pony to run straight into it. Paint noticed that the door was made of wood, wood that was old and would not last for very long considering the fact that his stepfather was now angrily kicking the door and making stabs at it. Paint immediately began running, not wanting to be there to see the door breaking down.

He reached a rather small room and what he saw there was an elevator shaft in front of him. It was the same elevator shaft he had seen earlier in the prison area and the elevator was right there in his floor as if waiting for him to enter. He smiled in relief as he realized it would take him straight down to his father, but then facehoofed when he suddenly remembered that it wasn't working. His stepfather was still trying to break through the door, and Paint was heavily breathing and even whimpering because of how scared he was. Aside from the direction he had come from there was one more door he could go through. He quickly entered it and a cry of despair escaped his throat as he realized that he had reached a dead end. The only thing that was in the room was some old looking machine. After looking at it for a short moment Paint realized that it was the elevator's machinery. Immediately he began to inspect it, and after a short moment he realized that a cogwheel was missing. After looking around in the room and not finding a cogwheel he left the machinery room and went back to the elevator room. That's when he saw the cogwheel, which was placed in one of the corners as if it had been taken out on purpose. He began to drag it along to the machinery room and boy was it heavy. After finally getting it close to the machine in question he lifted it onto his back and shoved it into place. To his relief the cogwheels began spinning, which indicated that the elevator was operational again.

Just then there was a loud sound of breaking wood which immediately caused Paint to freeze where he was. Still in the machinery room, his eyes became wide with horror as the sound of his stepfather's approaching hoofsteps and crazy laughter reached his ears. Paint quietly moved to behind the elevator's machinery and hid behind it. The rate of his heartbeats seemed to match the insane earth pony's hoofsteps. "I _will_ find you…" said his stepfather in a threatening voice as he continued to wonder around looking for the helpless pegasus. After a few moments of silence the earth pony's breathing and growling indicated that he was getting frustrated. "Hide and seek," he laughed and ran his knife across some old pipes, emitting a screeching sound that sent a shiver down Paint's spine. "hide and seek…" Paint could hear his stepfather enter the machinery room and he even had to cover his mouth so to not accidentally make a noise. "Come out! You'll like what I have planned!"

By the time Paint realized he had forgotten to cover his lantern his stepfather was already laughing crazily and walking over to where he was hiding. "I see you!…" Without thinking twice the frightened pegasus spread his wing and flew as fast as he could out of his hiding place, knocking the unprepared earth pony off his hooves. By the time he entered the elevator his stepfather was already up and running after him. "If you come here I'll love you like you always wanted me to!"

Paint lowered the lever and the elevator's door closed. He let out a cry of relief as it began descending. His legs finally gave way and he lay there whimpering on the elevator's floor like a little foal. The elevator eventually reached its destination and the still horrified pegasus stood up. Still whimpering, he got out of the elevator and began to head to his destination. A gasp escaped from him as the elevator's doors suddenly closed and it began moving back up. His stepfather must have realized how to summon the elevator, which meant that there was no time to waste. Paint walked on, passing the cell-like door (which was mentioned earlier) before suddenly getting an idea. He looked around for a candlestick and, after finding one, closed the door before placing the piece of metal where the lock should be. He let out a sigh of relief, smiling at the fact that the only way to remove the candlestick would be from his side of the door and not from the elevator's side of the door.

Paint then returned to the room where his father was being held. The blindfolded pegasus was still in his cell. "Who's there?" he asked nervously, not able to see who was approaching his cell.

"It's me." said Paint with a smile as he took the key out of his saddlebag and opened the door. "I have the key."

Paint's father smiled and even laughed in relief. "I can't believe it, wow… I don't know what to say!" Paint went ahead and began to untie him. "I do believe I owe you one…"

"Don't mention it." replied the younger pegasus after completely untying his father, who rose to his hooves and stretched out his wings for the first time in what must have been a long time. Finally, his father removed his blindfold. The two pegasi looked at each other silently. While Paint knew that he was facing his father, his father didn't. The older pegasus almost felt like he was looking in the mirror. They even had the same green eyes. "We should probably get going." Said Paint suddenly as he turned around, finding the situation too awkward. He wanted to introduce himself to his father, but he was too nervous to do so.

As confused as Paint's father was at how the younger pegasus in front of him resembled him he went ahead and followed him outside of the cell. "I hope you know a way out." he said, somewhat nervously.

"I have an idea." said his son, looking at him in the corner of his eye with a smile before making a gesture towards the fireplace. "It's not lit and it looks wide enough for us to fly through. All fireplaces are connected to a chimney; it's the fastest way out." He should have used the chimney to first enter the castle but the thought never occurred to him.

"What are we waiting for then?" asked the latter with a smile as they both slowly walked towards the fireplace.

A sudden sound of metal made them stop dead in their tracks. Paint looked in the direction he had just returned from and he knew what the source of the noise was. It was his stepfather trying to get through the metal door in front of the elevator. "Don't worry." he said reassuringly to his father with some hint of victory in his voice. "He won't be coming through that door."

The two pegasi reached the fireplace and flew out through the chimney before heading towards Canterlot. It was already completely dark and the clear sky, decorated with Luna's moon and stars, provided both of them with a sense of freedom.

**A/N: I gave the whole horror genre a little shot with this chapter as you might have noticed =3**


	17. Twilight's Nephew

**A/N: The chapter's finally here. Again, I'm sorry it took me so long. I guarantee that it won't happen again. This chapter turned out quite longer than a normal chapter, so I hope it will somehow make up for it.**

The two pegasi had been flying for a few hours by the time Canterlot finally came into sight. They've been flying all night and the sun was already beginning to rise in the east. It is needless to mention that they were both exhausted, but neither of them suggested stopping anywhere on the way because they were feeling as if they were being followed, even if they saw nothing but wasteland whenever they looked at the ground behind them. Speaking of making any suggestions; the flight back to Canterlot was spent in complete silence. As much as Paint was excited at the thought of meeting his father he did not engage him in conversation as they flew through the night's sky. The latter, wanting to find out more about his rescuer like who he was and how did he know to come and find him, found it too awkward to attempt to start a conversation himself. Seeing how Paint kept flying ahead of him without even making eye contact made him say nothing. He wanted to thank the younger pegasus properly and at least ask him for his name but Paint's rather unnatural indifference made him decide to at least wait until they arrived to Canterlot.

Even though his life was no longer in danger, and hasn't been in danger for the past few hours during which they've flying quietly, he felt a huge relief when Canterlot finally came into view. Seeing the large city as the sunrise emphasized its glory made the abandoned castle seem less intimidating than it actually was. In fact he was so deep in his own thoughts of relief and of how lucky he was to be alive that it took him a few moments to notice that the pegasus to who he owed his life had changed his flying direction and was instead flying towards what seemed to be a small village. "Hey!" he called, confused, flying after the younger pegasus. "Where are you going? Wait up!"

Paint could hear his father calling to him but he made no answer. Even he found his own behavior confusing, seeing that he went to Canterlot so that he could finally meet his real father. But now that it was the moment of truth, he felt too nervous. It's not that he had changed his mind; he still wanted to get to know his father, but he didn't feel ready. He continued ignoring his father and eventually came to a stop, landing in Ponyville. He looked around hoping that the other pegasus had given up the chase but his father was still there. Paint took in a deep breath. There was no need for him to introduce himself as his son yet, he could wait with that. The latter eventually caught up and landed in front of him, panting. It looked like Paint had to thank Rainbow Dash for forcing him to work out from time to time. "Wow, you're really fast…" he said to the younger pegasus, getting a blank expression that wasn't accompanied by a response. It was still a very early morning hour so the streets were still empty. The lack of a response caused Paint's father to feel rather awkward at the situation. "Uh…" Another silence followed. "I never really got the chance to say this properly, but… Thank you for saving my life, I really owe you one."

Paint continued saying nothing. His father nervously rubbed the back of his head with a hoof, still feeling a little awkward at the lack of communication. "I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough… I have to ask, how did you know I was in trouble?" As his son continued just standing there and staring at his own hooves he realized that maybe the younger pegasus didn't really want to take part in the conversation. "Uh, okay, I…" Not knowing what else to say, he simply walked over to Paint and held out a hoof, hoping to at least get a friendly shake of hooves from the pony who saved his life. Paint stared at the hoof for a short moment. 'At least shake his hoof.' He demanded of himself as he slowly brought his own hoof over.

Paint's father, who was about to end the hoofshake in order to thank the younger stallion once again and then quietly leave, suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Still slowly shaking hooves, Paint noticed that his father was staring at something, and he too froze dead in his tracks when he realized that what he was staring at was his mother's engagement bracelet, which Paint had been wearing ever since his mother died. His father recognized it immediately; there was no doubt whatsoever about that. Feeling sweat beginning to appear on his forehead he nervously pulled his hoof away, but he could tell that his father had already put the pieces together. Not knowing what else to do he turned around and flew off as fast as he could, soon arriving at his marefriend's house and locking the door behind him.

At first Paint's father wanted to follow his son but after a short moment of thinking he decided not to. Just forcing interaction would drive his son away even more. Besides, it wouldn't be surprising to find out that his son doesn't want anything to do with somepony like him.

Some hours passed and soon the residents of Ponyville were all over the place. Despite how alive the town looked there was still this feeling of calmness in it. Paint's father had been staring at the cloud home his son had fled into ever since their conversation earlier that morning, but he didn't dare approach it. Seeing that nopony was going to come out of the house anytime soon he decided that he might as well go home. Well, not home. He didn't have a home, nor did he have any family or friends. However he wasn't going to force himself upon his son just because he was lonely; his son had every right to not be in touch with him.

"How long exactly have you been sitting here?"

Feeling as if he recognized the voice, he immediately turned around. It was Elisa. She looked as beautiful as ever, like she hasn't aged at all since they last saw each other. He continued to sit there looking a little dumbstruck, kind of like Paint did when he first saw Rainbow Dash. With everything that's been going on in the past 24 hours he hadn't paid much thought to the fact that he might actually see her again. He never stopped thinking about her all those years, not even for a moment. Seeing that he wasn't 'in a condition' to answer her, the unicorn mare giggled a familiar giggle and sat down beside him. As awkward as it may sound, to Paint's father it looked like she knew she'd find him where they now were. "A few hours." He eventually said, still unable to take his eyes off of her. "You don't look surprised."

Elisa smiled and shook her head slightly. "I've known him since the day he was born. Don't worry, just give him some time and he'll eventually come around."

"I…" he started, but then paused. He didn't really know how to say what he wanted to say. "I never thought I'll see you again." It was only then when he noticed that Elisa had a foal carriage with her. He took a closer look and saw Emerald sleeping peacefully in it. "That's a very cute foal…"

"Her name's Emerald." said Elisa with a smile. Paint's father said nothing. He should have figured that Elisa was already married. His attention was drawn to her once more when she laughed an amused laughter. "She's not my foal. That's your son's little half-sister. I'm not married."

"Oh…" he felt his cheeks turn completely red at the fact that his jealousy was that noticeable.

Elisa couldn't help but giggle. "I never expected to see you again either." she said after a short pause. "I really missed you."

"I missed you too." he said with a smile, and his cheeks became red once again when Elisa suddenly rested her head on his shoulder.

_Meanwhile at Rainbow Dash's house_

After locking the door behind him Paint waited for a while to see whether his father had followed him or not, and after a short while he let out a sigh and headed towards the bedroom. He was completely exhausted, having spent the night wondering around in that creepy old castle and running for his life. Right now his body wanted nothing more badly than it wanted to get some sleep and rest. And yet, as he lay there next to his sleeping marefriend after carefully lying down so to not wake her up, he couldn't fall asleep regardless of how tired he was. He couldn't stop thinking about his father and about how he just left him standing there in Ponyville like an idiot without even saying a single word to him. It would have been a lot simpler if his father hadn't noticed the bracelet, but that couldn't be undone. As he continued to lie there silently he couldn't help but feel pangs of guilt in his chest. That did not however change the fact that he was not ready to talk to his father yet.

It took him quite a long time, even an hour or two, before he was able to finally go to sleep. To his dismay he didn't sleep for as long as he wished he could have slept, because later in the morning he was suddenly shaken awake by an excited Rainbow Dash who was obviously more than simply enthusiastic to hear about what has happened. As much as he was tired and in the mood for anything but talking about his father, he couldn't be mad at her. He could never be angry with her, it just never happened.

"Well, how did it go? Did you find him? Tell me everything!" she said excitedly as she kept shaking the slightly uncomfortable stallion even though he was already awake. She just kept asking one question after another to the point where it was impossible to even try making an answer, and her coltfriend was starting to wonder whether she had spent too much time with Pinkie Pie lately. At some point he realized that getting an opportunity to make a reply would be impossible, and he could think of only one way to get her to stop talking and actually give him a chance to answer her. Without too much of a warning he pulled his marefriend into a deep kiss. "What was that for?" she asked after the kiss ended, looking a little confused.

Paint was silent for a moment. "I just missed you." Saying 'you were talk too much' would have been a very, very bad idea. Besides, it was true that he missed her. When you tell somebody that you've missed them you usually mean that you haven't seen them for a certain amount of time, but in Paint's case it was more of a 'I thought I'd never see you again'. Back when he was running for his life in that castle one of his greatest fears was never seeing Rainbow Dash again. It was the fact that he was too troubled about what has happened with his father after they arrived in Ponyville that kept him from waking her up when he returned.

"So how did it go?" asked Rainbow Dash again, only that this time her question was not followed by more and more questions.

The last thing Paint wanted to think about at the moment was the horrifying night he had spent in that dark castle. The fact that it had to be told to the police was of course obvious, but he felt like his head would explode if he didn't let himself recover from the horrible experience first. "I did find him." He said after a short pause.

"Paint, that's wonderful! I knew you'd find him eventually." said his marefriend with a smile. "And then what happened?" she asked.

"I wanted to tell him who I was." he replied, thinking about the one-sided conversation that took place between them a few hours ago in Ponyville. "I look a lot like him." he added suddenly after another pause. "I don't know what really happened… I mean… Ever since I found out about him I've wanted to meet him, and I was standing there thinking that this is my real father; somepony who wouldn't make my life miserable by not letting me see my family, but… That's when I also realized that, even though he's my father, he's also a complete stranger to me. I wanted to tell him who I was, but I just couldn't." He fell silent. Rainbow Dash looked a little disappointed that Paint ended up not introducing himself to his father after finally finding him, but she knew that it was something neither she nor anypony else could force her coltfriend to do. "But he still knows who I am." Paint added after a long silence, much to his marefriend's surprise.

"How come?" asked she, obviously curious. "You just said that you haven't told him."

"I was going to leave when he noticed my mother's bracelet…" he raised his right hoof slightly into the air and looked down at the piece of jewelry that was the only thing he had left of his mother, "I should have known that he would recognize it if he saw it…"

"You're going to have to talk to him at some point now that he knows who you are." she said, sitting down next to him and placing a hoof on his shoulder in an attempt of reassurance.

"I know, I can't just leave him hanging now, but I need a little time." The two pegasi fell silent and after a while Paint wrapped a foreleg around his marefriend and held her close. "Did I ever tell you that I think you're amazing?"

Rainbow Dash smiled. She may not be the type of mare that liked fancy dresses and loads of makeup but she did enjoy compliments, especially when they came from him. "You can always mention it again if you feel like it."

"I mean it. I still can't believe that you kept the foal… Whenever I think about I feel like I'm just dreaming or imagining."

"It's nothing, really." she said, unable to hold back a giggle when he gave her a loving kiss.

"Nothing?" he asked, smiling, "Rainbow, it's the most amazing thing I've seen anypony do in my entire life."

After a short silence Rainbow Dash spoke again, "Can I ask you something?" she asked, a little quietly.

"Of course."

"I know that I've decided to go on with the whole… baby thing, but… To be honest with you, I…" she paused, hesitating, "I'm nervous... I don't know what's going to happen, I don't even know anything about raising foals…" The whole idea of a living being slowly growing up inside her was not only exciting but also unnerving.

"I don't know what's going to happen either." admitted her coltfriend, giving her a reassuring smile. "We have each other though, and if we'll ever need help we have our friends and everypony else to help us." He brushed her mane over her ear with a hoof so that he could see both of her eyes. "You're not alone in this."

"You know… It's a weird feeling…" she said with a smile after another pause. "I know that I'm pregnant, but it doesn't feel like it... Well, aside from the morning sickness every now and then…" Paint was about to say something when there was a knock at the door. Both Pegasi got up and opened it, finding a very nervous and excited Twilight standing behind the door. "Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash in surprise. "How did you get up here?" There wasn't a hot-air balloon anywhere in sight.

"Teleportation spell and cloud-walking spell!" exclaimed the agitated purple unicorn.

"You look crazier than usual." added Rainbow Dash, looking at her friend curiously.

"I have every reason to be-" she paused, "Hey!" she frowned, Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Just tell us what the matter is."

"Cadence went into labor!"

Rainbow Dash and Paint looked at each other in surprise for a moment. "Twilight that's great!"

"Yes! You know how I've been going crazy because she should have gone into labor more than 2 weeks ago right?!"

"It was hard not to notice…" said Rainbow Dash bluntly, "But you still look a little insane."

"Because think of all the things that might go wrong!"

"Twilight, nothing will go wrong, I'm sure Cadence will be just f-"

"We have to get on a train to Canterlot!" she turned around and ran in what was the direction of the train station, only to fall off the cloud a moment later because the fact that she was on a cloud happened to have slipped her mind.

Rainbow Dash sighed and unfolded her wings, "I'll go catch her…"

Within a minute or two Paint and Rainbow Dash found themselves on a train to Canterlot along with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and, of course, a very nervous Twilight. Rarity was already in Canterlot, having returned there to carry on with her job two days ago. "Are you sure it's okay that I'm coming with you?" asked Paint quietly so that only Rainbow Dash would hear him.

"Sure, why wouldn't it be?"

"I dunno…"

"Well the letter from the princess stated that we can all be there." There was a short pause. "Perhaps Shining Armor remembers how you were the only one that bothered to come help him stand back up after that door hit him in the face." **(A/N: That really happened, to those of you who don't remember)**

Paint chuckled, "Well we were in a hurry and you literally kicked the door open just when he was on the other side."

The group eventually arrived in Canterlot and made their way to the castle. They were then led by one of the guards until they saw Princess Celestia standing outside one of the rooms in the hallway. Twilight was so agitated by then that she forgot to formerly greet her mentor like she always did. "Are they here?!" she asked, and then immediately ran inside before the princess even had the chance to answer.

Princess Celestia only chuckled and then looked at the rest of Twilight's friends. "Go right ahead."

The others entered. Rarity and Twilight's parents were there as well. Cadence was fast asleep and Shining Armor was trying really hard not to suffocate as a result of his sister hugging him so tightly while telling him how happy she was for him. There was a small crib next to Cadence's bed but Paint was unable to take a look at the newborn foal because the crib was surrounded by pretty much everypony that was in the room with the exception of Cadence who was sleeping. While he didn't manage to take a good look he did catch a few glimpses and heard Twilight and her friends exclaim that the baby looked like a younger copy of Shining Armor.

There isn't really much to describe about what happened later. Cadence woke up at some point and was happy to find herself surrounded by her husband, her sister and parents in law and her friends. At some point Paint finally managed to take a good look at Twilight's nephew, who really did look like he could have been Shining Armor's twin brother had they been born at the same time. Looking at the newborn foal made him again think about the fact that he and Rainbow Dash had a baby on the way. He wondered whether it would be a boy or a girl and whether it would look like him or like her or like both of them.

His line of thought was interrupted when Princess Celestia approached him and asked him if he could come with her for a moment. He hesitated for a moment but then followed, wondering what it was the Princess Celestia herself wanted to show him or to talk to him about. Either way, he couldn't just say no to a princess. She led him to another room and then took her leave, asking him to wait there. After a while of wondering what the whole thing was about he heard a voice behind him. "Oh good, you are here." He turned around and saw Princess Luna herself approaching him. He was so surprised that Princess Luna wanted to speak to him that he forgot to bow, but she didn't seem to mind it. "We've been waiting for you."

"We?" he asked after a short moment, looking around the room and seeing that they were alone. Maybe she was talking about her and her unborn foal? She has been, after all, pregnant for six months already, and her pregnancy was already physically noticeable. "You mean the foal? No wait, my bad, I forgot that that's the way you talk…" Most ponies would not dare to talk so freely around a princess, especially not Luna, but Paint knew more than well that she wasn't really intimidating like she sometimes appeared to be.

"Yes, we have asked our sister if she was willing to ask you to come here."

It was then that Paint remembered having not seen Luna at all while he was in the room where Cadence was resting. "Haven't you gone to see your newborn nephew yet?"

"Of course we have." said Luna, "Both my mate and I have already been there to see how Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was feeling and to give both her and Shining Armor our congratulations."

"Why did you call me here?" he asked, but then quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, I'm deeply honored, I just can't think of a reason for you to want to talk to me like this."

"We do believe that we haven't yet thanked you for the great service you have done us half a year ago."

"What do you mean?" he asked, not able to understand what she was talking about.

"It was thou who undid Discord's work by restoring our memories to us." explained the princess of the night.

Paint was silent for a moment before suddenly remembering what has happened in the cave more than six months ago. "Oh! That? That was no big deal, really."

The princess smiled, "Thy modesty is most commendable, but we do insist that you accept our gratitude and acknowledge what you have done."

"I'm sure that Twilight and her friends would have figured something out…"

"If it weren't for you both you and Rainbow Dash would have most likely perished that day. If it weren't for you the Elements of Harmony would have never been used and Discord would still be free."

"I guess you're right…" he said quietly. Paint has never thought of himself as a hero. Only a few hours ago he refused to finally speak to his real father just because he was feeling too nervous. "I never thought about it really… I was busier trying to put the whole experience behind and move on."

"Ah, yes, we understand." she said, and Paint could immediately tell that Luna wanted to forget about all that has happened even more than he did. After all she did almost destroy Ponyville and almost kill her husband. "If you'll excuse us, we would like to take our leave and go visit our niece and see how she is feeling."

"Oh, of course." He continued to sit there and saw after a moment that Luna was still there, as if she was waiting for him to come along with her. "Can you go on without me? I think I'll stay here for a moment. Is that okay?"

"Of course, you may do as pleases you." The princess headed towards the door but looked at him over her shoulder before leaving. "Oh, and Paint,"

He looked at her, surprised that she knew his name. "Yes?"

"thanks again, for everything." The princess left, leaving the blue pegasus alone in the fancy room.

Paint sat there for a while without even moving and simply stared at the wall in front of him. After some time has passed he looked down at his mother's bracelet and began to wonder how everything would have turned out if she was still alive. Would she be proud of everything he has done? Would she have been able to somehow change her husband mind and put a happy ending to this whole story? What made his eyes water every single time he thought about her was the fact that he never even had the chance to say goodbye to her.

"Paint?"

He immediately wiped his eyes with one of his hooves before turning around upon hearing Rainbow Dash's voice. "Oh, hi…" he said, surprised to see her there, "What's up?"

"You were gone for such a long time that I decided to come see if everything's okay." she said, sounding slightly worried.

"Oh, I'm fine…" he sighed, "I was just thinking about my mother."

Rainbow came over and sat down beside him. "And are you alright?"

"Yes, I'll be fine." There was a short pause. "I also thought about you and our… our foal." He paused for a moment before saying it because it was still hard to grasp the fact that they will become parents in about a year.

"Really?" she asked with a smile, "And what thoughts occurred to you exactly?"

"I dunno, all sorts of thoughts…" said he, smiling back at her, "Looking at Twilight's nephew made me think whether our foal will be a boy or a girl and which one of us he or she would look like. It also made me realize that I'm rather impatient to find out…"

"I was thinking about the same things." she said before pausing for a moment. "You know, we still haven't told anypony yet…" In fact the only one who knew that Rainbow Dash was pregnant was Elisa, but they both knew that she would never tell anypony without their permission. "So… We're going to have to do that sooner or later..."

"Take your time Rainbow," he said, holding her close, "we'll tell them once you decide you're ready.

Rainbow Dash would never say it to anypony but her coltfriend, but she liked how supportive he could be. "Do you want to go back to the others?" she asked after a short pause.

"Yeah, sure." They got off and headed towards the door but Paint suddenly stopped. "Wait a sec."

"What is it?" she asked, turning around to face him.

Paint seemed to hesitate for a moment before taking off his mother's bracelet and holding it out to her. "I want you to have this."

Rainbow Dash stared at the bracelet, a little shocked. "Me? But… it was your mothers..."

"I know." said Paint with a smile. "I'd like you to hold on to it for me."

Rainbow Dash didn't know what to say. The fact that he was willing to trust her with the only thing he had left of his mother meant a lot to her. She was about to take the bracelet from him but then she suddenly stopped. "Wait… Paint, this is an engagement bracelet…"

There was a short silence. Rainbow Dash expected Paint to nervously take the bracelet back and say that the fact that it was an engagement bracelet had skipped his mind but he didn't. He only smiled and said, "I know." Rainbow Dash didn't know what to say. Was he really doing what she thought he was doing?

**A/N: This story is not over yet. I'd like to thank those of you who stuck around even though I haven't posted a thing for such a long time (The story still has the same number of followers as it did a month ago, so I can only assume…) There is one chapter left for me to write. Don't worry; it will be posted on schedule this time.**


	18. a short question for you guys

**As you might know there is still one more chapter left before this story is completed. After doing some thinking I've realized that the reason why I hadn't been able to write that previous chapter for such a long time is because I don't have any ideas for a sequel to this fanfic. I'm guessing that I don't really want the whole experience of writing it to end. I know that it has been maybe almost 2 months between the chapter I've posted a few days ago and the one that came before it and that most of you guys are either gone from the site completely or don't remember the story because it's been such a long time and therefore are not in the mood to continue reading (I know that personally if a story I follow stops updating for a while and then suddenly returns then I'll most likely not be in the mood to read it anymore). I am not complaining or anything, seeing that it's my fault for taking such a long time. Since I've received no reviews at all for the last chapter (again; not complaining) I am writing this notice in order to check whether there's anyone who is still reading this story, because if there isn't then there is no reason for me to finish it. So if there are any of you, even one of you, who would like me to finish this story, just let me know either by a review or sending me a PM.**


	19. Epilogue

**To mavum: Thanks, I enjoyed it too! (after I got over that block)**

**fox1951: Thank you! And don't worry, I hate it when stories I read get cancelled. I will never stop a story as long as people read it, and even if people don't read it there's still the whole aspect of enjoying writing it.**

**Lord of Moo: I would never kick Dinky.**

**Guest #1: That's great, whoever you are… Thanks!**

**Ares-A: Thanks!**

**dracowing14: There might be a sequel, but I can't tell you for sure right now. I have a small idea but I don't know how it will turn out. We'll have to wait and see.**

**Gladiator159: Thank you, that means a lot!**

**bluecatcinema: Read and see for yourself.**

**The Midniyt Stalker: Very well, then thou shalt see an ending.**

**Guest #2: Okay Orange!**

**ponylover8: I don't believe in hell :o**

**Guest #3: Or else what? *-***

**A/N: The day after asking whether any of you guys are still reading this I opened my email inbox and saw 12 reviews. Thanks guys!**

"And that concludes yet another flawless performance by your favorite flying squad in all of Equestria!" said the voice of an announcer which filled the cloud stadium through very large speakers. This triggered a wild wave of applause from the huge amount of fans in the stadium, which, for obvious reasons, were mostly pegasi. Seeing that sometimes an aerial performance could go wrong, even if it hardly ever happened to The Wonderbolts, such performances were always held in stadiums that were constructed almost completely of clouds. Therefore, it was quite a problem for any non-pegasi fan to make it to a show and most of these fans had to be satisfied with photos or videotaped footage (If they managed to get hold of any). The more extreme fans usually make it to shows with a hot air balloon. Most of them stay in their balloons during the shows because not many unicorns come up with the idea of using a cloud-walking spell. The only chance of seeing a performance of The Wonderbolts without using a hot air balloon if you're not a pegasus is to be at the Grand Galloping Gala, which is the only occasion where The Wonderbolts perform out of the regular stadiums they usually use.

"Don't forget, the refreshments served to you during today's performance were brought to you by Sweet Apple Acres; home to the best apples in Equestria!" It is quite true that making so much food was no easy task, but if it meant bringing more business for their farm then Applejack was always up for the challenge.

_Meanwhile backstage_

"That was so awesome!" exclaimed a little pegasus filly as she ran around, bounced over things and flew all over the place. "They were all like WOOSH, and WAAM, and then mommy did that thingy where she flies really really really really fast with all the pretty colors!"

"Calm down Sky, you'll end up falling over like you did last time."

"But daaad, I wanna go see the team! It's boring back here!"

"You'll see them like you see them every time." said Paint with a warm smile as his daughter unwillingly landed on his head and sat on it with a frown. Being married to a Wonderbolt was surely the best way to get backstage passages and to see every single show. Not only that, but from the backstage area one could get the best view of the performance, something which always kept Sky occupied until the show ended. Once a show was over she would grow bored quite quickly. Paint was used to it though, seeing that it was the same thing every single time. It was almost like watching a movie you've already seen many times before. Whenever there was a performance of The Wonderbolts they both went as long as it wasn't too far away and as long as Paint wasn't too busy, since he obviously couldn't let his daughter go alone. Whenever they couldn't go Sky would complain and beg in an attempt to change her father's mind, but at some point she realized that there were times where going was simply not and option.

Sky resembled her father in her coat color, which was identical to his. Her mane and tail were colored in 6 stripes, each a different shade of blue, and her eyes were identical to her mother's. Both of her parents decided that 'Sky Dash' would be a perfect name for their daughter. Whenever she was with one of her parents or with both of them it was impossible not to figure out that there was a biological connection. The choice of name proved to indeed be a perfect one once they realized that Sky resembled her mother a lot not only in appearance but also in personality.

Even though Rainbow Dash never regretted not ending her pregnancy a few years ago, there were moments where she wondered whether she'll ever get another opportunity to become a Wonderbolt. To her happiness and to the happiness of those around her, another chance eventually presented itself and the rainbow-maned mare's dream has finally become a reality. Being a Wonderbolt, she was often busy practicing or performing, which meant that she didn't see her friends and family as often as a regular pony would. At first it bothered her a great deal but her teammates, who obviously had friends and families of their own, helped her deal with her small depression. After that she dedicated all of her free time to be with her friends and her family, which was obviously the right decision. It meant that Sky saw her father more frequently than her mother but it didn't make Sky any less attached to her in comparison to how attached she was to her father, so everything was alright in that aspect.

Rainbow Dash's teammates got used to seeing their teammate's daughter quite often when going backstage after the end of a show. While it did take a while to get used to having a foal running around backstage they never minded her presence, and they all grew to like her very quickly. She on the other hoof was always as excited to see them as if it was the first time, regardless of how many times she's met them and regardless of the fact that her mother was also a Wonderbolt.

Paint sat and let his daughter slide down from his head, catching her in the air with both of his forelegs as she giggled. "Listen Sky, it's your mother's and my anniversary today, so would you rather hang out with your grandpa or with your uncle? Since there's no school tomorrow I promise that you'll get to spend as much time as you'd like with me and your mother then; seeing that she won't have another practice or another show for more than two weeks now. We'll both be completely free tomorrow." It was kind of weird for him to think of his father being Sky's grandfather, seeing that his father was still way too young for other ponies to look at and wonder whether he had any grandchildren. But then again it kind of did make sense since Paint's father was still a young stallion when Paint was born.

Sky thought for a moment, considering the cons and pros of each option she had. "Uncle Silver and auntie Twilight always try to get me to read books, but your father and your stepmother are always busy changing their son's diapers…"

Paint chuckled, "Yes, it's a difficult decision."

"Do you think Scootaloo can watch over me?" Sky liked thinking of Scootaloo as a big sister just like Scootaloo liked thinking the same thing about Rainbow Dash.

"Maybe. Perhaps you can go and see if Fluttershy's daughter would like to play with you. You two are great friends. Plus she doesn't wear diapers anymore."

Sky laughed, "Yeah, plus Appledaisy's great-grandmother is at Fluttershy's a lot and she always has interesting stories to tell us!"

Let me wrap the last few lines up for you. Paint and Rainbow Dash got married as did Fluttershy and Big Macintosh. It was Rarity's idea to have a 'double-wedding', and while it seemed to be an odd and unusual suggestion at first both couples eventually agreed. Fluttershy's and Big Macintosh's daughter, Appledaisy, was born almost a year after Sky Dash was. There aren't many pegasi in the Apple Family, and she is one of them. The two fillies became best friends quite quickly. Elisa and Paint's father also got married. Their son, a unicorn, is a few months old. Twilight and Silver are also married, but they don't have any foals yet. Despite of how badly Silver wants one, Twilight still has her doubts and doesn't feel ready for that yet.

After Paint and his father went together to the police station to tell of what has happened the police began looking for Paint's stepfather (this took place a few days after the last chapter's events). By the time they went to check the abandoned castle the goons he had hired were long gone. Despite how the police thought that the one they were looking for had also left the place they found him inside the castle. His physical condition indicated that he had not eaten for a long time. It was probably his mental condition that made it impossible for him to find his way out of the castle. After he recovered his health he stood trial and, after the process was over, he was thrown into prison. As soon as that happened Silver gained the authority over his father's property, which made him able to cancel the restricting order that kept Paint from being able to see Emerald. Now Emerald was being looked after mostly by her two brothers and Elisa. It was still hard for Silver to accept the fact that his father had actually done all of those horrible things, but after a while it stopped troubling him and he moved on.

Don't you think that Paint is surrounded by a rather odd family? Think about it, his daughter has an uncle who still wears diapers and an aunt who's only a little more than a year older than she is. That's weird.

Don't think for a moment that I forgot about Luna. In case you were; I didn't. In case you weren't; _you_ did. Be ashamed of yourself. Nah, not really, I'm just joking. About half a year after Cadence gave birth to her and Shining Armor's son, Luna gave birth to a healthy alicorn mare. I'm pretty sure that there's no need for me to tell you that the birth of an alicorn is no daily occasion. The newborn princess had a white coat, mane and tail. Her mane and tail had the same 'flowing style' that her parents and aunt had (Sorry, I dunno how else to describe it). She also had her mother's deep blue eyes. It was true that she had no physical resemblance to her father, but he didn't seem to mind it at all. He also didn't have a problem with letting Luna decide on a name for their daughter all by herself, and after some thinking she decided to call her Mary. Usually ponies' names have some meaning or a connection to their personalities, but in Mary's occasion it's because her mother liked the name.

However, after a few months, the name Luna chose proved to be a perfect one for Mary, who was a rather merry foal to say the least. (See what I did there?) She was one of the most mischievous and playful foals to have ever walked upon the lands of Equestria. Now combine that with her mother's sometime short temper and you get a nuclear bomb. No, not a nuclear bomb, but it doesn't seem like a good combination, does it? But truth be told, Mary was completely obedient with her mother, father and aunt. It was the household of the palace that had trouble with her. Her most favorite game was 'hide and seek' and the little foal appeared to be fond of dark places like her mother. The only problem with that was the fact that her color was white, making her very easy to notice in the dark. Most of those who had to be around her a lot thought that she was crazy, seeing how random she could be. Whether she randomly showed up out of nowhere and whether she ate her birthday cake (or her aunt's) in one bite, the little alicorn's behavior was absolutely impossible to explain. Regardless of that, everypony in the kingdom seemed to love the little filly. Can you guess who's the pony she likes to hang out with the most?

…

…

…

…

…

It's Pinkie Pie.

"Alright, I'll go spend the afternoon with Appledaisy!" exclaimed Sky Dash after a few more moments of thinking. Paint smiled and said nothing, letting his daughter fly off using her tiny little wings upon seeing Rainbow Dash and the rest of The Wonderbolts enter the backstage area after having said goodbye to their fans and after having thanked them for coming to the show. "Mommy mommy!" exclaimed the little foal with a huge smile, flying straight into her mother's open arms / forelegs.

"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash, embracing her daughter as the little foal giggled. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Yes, it was awesome!" It was only a moment or two after that the little foal noticed some other members of The Wonderbolts and flew off to get some attention from them as well. Rainbow Dash looked at her daughter for a moment as the tiny pegasus started hopping on Soarin's head. She chuckled and then went and walked over to where Paint was.

"Hey…" she said with her usual smile, taking off her flight goggles.

"Hey." he said, leaning over and rubbing his nose against hers for a brief moment.

"Sky doesn't seem to get tired of coming to these shows does she?" she asked, looking at their daughter who was now busy trying to show off in front of Spitfire. It made Rainbow Dash's cheeks redden to think that, back when she was young like her daughter, she would have showed off in front of Spitfire as well (and would have looked silly like Sky while doing it).

"No." said Paint with a smile. "It doesn't surprise me too much. I don't think you would have gotten bored of this back when you were her age."

"Probably not." Rainbow Dash chuckled. Looking at her daughter reminded her so much of how she used to be when she was younger.

"I don't think I'm getting bored of coming to these shows either." added her husband after a short silence. "I mean, it makes her happy. Plus you look really hot in that flight suit."

Rainbow Dash chuckled and rolled her eyes in a somewhat teasing way. "Oh please, we both know that you just can't wait for me to take it off."

"Hey," said Paint with a fake frown, "that was a low blow."

Rainbow Dash giggled and the two rubbed noses again, only to be interrupted a short moment later by their daughter. "You guys!" she exclaimed with annoyance, now cuddled up in Soarin's mane. "Stop that, you're embarrassing me!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled and looked at Paint. "We should probably get going before all the paparazzi show up."

"Yeah." He said and looked at their daughter again, "Come on Sky, it's time to go home." The little goal complained for a few moments but then gave in and came over to her parents. After Rainbow Dash bid her teammates farewell and told them that she was looking forward to seeing them again in two weeks she and Paint flew back home with their daughter who, during the whole way back, kept talking on and on about how awesome she thought the show was.

After getting back home Sky jumped off of her father's back and ran off into some random room. "Hey mommy! Maybe we can teach Tank some tricks too! He can be like a super turtle!"

"I don't think Tank would like that very much." said her mother with a chuckle as both she and Paint went into the kitchen.

"Sky said she would like to spend the afternoon with her friend." He said after a short moment. "I promised her that we will both spend the entire day with her tomorrow."

Rainbow Dash smiled, "From the looks of it you obviously have something planned for the evening." Not only did Paint remember every single one of their anniversaries so far, but he also had something special planned every year.

"You know me; I always plan something." He said, walking over to her and kissing her, only to once again get interrupted by their daughter.

"Ewww, what are you doing? This is a kitchen!"

Paint chuckled and looked at his wife, "I'll drop her off at Fluttershy's and then I'll come back." He looked at his daughter, "Why don't you go pack whatever you want to take with you and I'll come take you in a moment?" Sky nodded excitedly and then ran off. Paint looked back at Rainbow Dash, "You might wanna wash up first, but by the time you come out I'll have everything ready."

"Okay." Before Paint could leave she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Then I won't have my flight suit on."

"Stop teasing."

When Rainbow Dash returned to the kitchen after about a quarter of an hour she saw that her husband had gone ahead and prepared a fancy looking dinner for both of them. "Oh, Paint…" she said, looking around, "You didn't have to make all of this…"

"Why not?"

"Well…" began Rainbow Dash, slightly embarrassed, "It's just that every year you put something incredible together and I never do anything. Most of the stallions out there don't even remember their anniversaries to begin with!"

"It's okay Rainbow, I know that you're very busy. Either way, it's no big deal; I enjoy putting stuff together for our anniversaries."

Still feeling a little embarrassed, Rainbow Dash went ahead and sat down by the table next to her husband. "Candles?" she looked at Paint, who smiled with embarrassment. "Are you sure I'm the one you're dining with?" she asked with a grin.

"Oh, well, you see… Those are for me… They help me get into the mood."

Rainbow Dash giggled, "Well, if you like them… Wait, what's this?" she examined a bottle that was on the table. "Champagne?" she looked at her husband, "Paint, you never drink. Last time you tasted wine you almost threw up."

"I know, but this is apple flavored, so maybe I can keep it down this time."

"If you insist." she said and then chuckled, "But just for the record; this was not my idea. So if you end up vomiting don't come and blame me."

"Don't worry; you're completely off the hook."

_Sometime later in the evening_

"See? I kept it down."

Rainbow Dash chuckled, "No, you kept _me _down." She giggled. "Besides, you only drank like one sip. That doesn't count."

"But it's more than I've ever drunk at a time."

"You've never drunk at all."

"Yeah, but still…"

Rainbow Dash smiled and laid a little closer to her husband, resting her head against his chest. "I had a wonderful time with you tonight."

Paint smiled and kissed Rainbow Dash on the forehead, holding her close to him as he did. "Me too." There was a short pause. "You know, I feel like I've really outdone myself this time."

"You did, the dinner was fantastic."

"…I didn't mean the dinner."

Rainbow Dash gave him a playful shove. "Shut up." The two fell silent for a while, simply lying there in each other's embrace. "You know…" she said suddenly after a while, "It's still a little hard for me to believe that everything worked out so well in the end."

"How come?" he asked, looking at her.

"I dunno… I guess things were so complicated back then…"

"I guess I can't disagree." There was a short pause. "But that's ancient history now."

"True…" She suddenly smiled, "And besides, everything was just perfect after all the mess ended, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Answered Paint with a smile. "Hey, remember the first time we went to the hospital for you to go through an ultrasonic examination?"

_Begin flashback_

_"Okay Miss Dash," said a doctor to a rather nervous Rainbow Dash. "This might feel a little weird but you have nothing to worry about. I'm just going to rub this substance on your stomach and then a few seconds later you will be able to see your baby on the screen."_

_Paint held Rainbow Dash's hoof in his own. "Don't worry Dashie; the doctor said there's no need to worry about."_

_"I know, I know…" she said, taking in a few deep breaths, "But you know I can't stand hospitals…"_

_Paint was about to say something else but the doctor interrupted them. "If you'd kindly look at the monitor over here…" The two soon-to-be-parents looked at the screen. The doctor carried on talking but they were both too distracted by what they were seeing on the monitor to pay attention. "…and, if you'd look closely here," he pointed at the monitor with a hoof, "those are the wings. Now, it's still a too early stage to determine the gender, but it's a pegasus. The most important thing is that it appears to be healthy and is in a good position. Congratulations."_

_End flashback_

"You know," said Rainbow Dash, "It felt really odd to actually see Sky on that monitor… I mean, how far into the pregnancy was it?"

"Um…" he said, thinking, "I think perhaps 3 months, maybe 4."

"It was amazing seeing her on the screen wasn't it?"

"Yeah… It actually took me a moment to realize that I was looking at a small pony. But I still remember sitting there and thinking 'this is our child'." he said with a smile.

"Yes, it was hard to believe for a moment back there…"

"Since we're already bringing up things that happened while you were pregnant…" said Paint after a short pause, "It wasn't all that great."

Rainbow Dash's cheeks became red, "Don't blame me, those were all hormones."

_Begin flashback_

_"Paint…" said Rainbow Dash, entering their bedroom._

_"What is it?" he asked, getting up and walking over to her, "Is something wrong?"_

_"No…" (This was a few months after Rainbow Dash became pregnant)_

_"Then what's the matter?" he asked, still looking concerned._

_"Does this baby make me look fat?"_

_"Yes. Yes it does."_

_*INSERT AN INCREDIBLY POWERFUL SLAP HERE*_

_End flashback_

"You just don't can't a mare she's fat." said Rainbow Dash with a chuckle. "You just don't do that. Ever."

"But don't you remember what happened the day before that?"

_Begin flashback_

_"Paint, I was just looking at myself in the mirror…" said Rainbow Dash, looking sad._

_"What is it?"_

_"I was thinking… This baby… Does it make me look fat?"_

_"No honey, of course not."_

_*INSERT ANOTHER INCREDIBLY POWERFUL SLAP*_

_"You liar!"_

_End flashback_

"Well…" said Rainbow Dash, embarrassed, "I guess it really is my fault in one way or another…"

"But when you think about it, your hormones were sometimes very generous with me. Perhaps too generous…"

_Being flashback_

_"I'm still depressed…" said Rainbow Dash to a barely awake Paint, "Again."_

_"Rainbow, please, for Celestia's sake, it's 3 in the morning…"_

_"NOW!"_

_End flashback_

_Begin flashback_

_"Rainbow, what's wrong? You haven't touched your food at all." said Paint, looking at his wife who was sitting at the other side of the table._

_"I'm fine."_

_Even though Paint didn't really believe her he said nothing and continued eating. All of a sudden, without warning, Rainbow Dash pushed everything off the table and jumped on it._

_"What the hell?!" exclaimed Paint in surprise._

_"Shut up and get on the table." Without warning she literally pulled him up._

_"Okay, I see, uh… This is… spontaneous and all but-"_

_"Why are you talking?!"_

_"I'm sorry!"_

_End flashback_

"You know…" said Paint to a guilty-looking Rainbow Dash, "It's true that I love to cook and all, but it still takes time and effort."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't control it… Besides it's not like you were all perfect. You got worried over every single thing."

"Yes, because I was worried about you."

"And when the pregnancy came to its last month you were like a leech following me everywhere."

_Begin flashback_

_"No Paint, don't follow me here, this is mares' bathroom…"_

_End flashback_

"I guess I was also a pain from time to time…" admitted the blue pegasus stallion, much to Rainbow Dash's satisfaction, "Oh, but the worst of all…" he paused, "Was when you went into labor."

Rainbow Dash laughed, "Oh yeah, I still remember that."

"Me too… You kept shouting at everypony… Well, not at everypony, just at me…" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You kept letting out those exclamations such as 'I'll kill you', 'Come here so that I can strangle you' or 'This hurts and it's all your fault'…"

Rainbow Dash said, "Well you don't say something like 'We will get through this' because you're not the one that goes through all the physical pain, and that really hurt."

Paint chuckled, "That's true, but you know that I was worried sick. The worst possible scenarios kept running through my mind."

"I guess neither of us can really blame the other for all the… incidents that took place…"

"Yeah. The most important thing is that despite all the… awkward moments and the… the lack of sanity… You ended up giving birth to a healthy girl, and she's my entire world."

"Hey, what about me?" asked Rainbow Dash with a jealous tone that was clearly fake.

"You're both my entire world."

The two fell silent for quite a long while, and eventually Rainbow Dash broke the silence. "What time is it? Don't we have to go pick Sky up already?"

Paint checked the time on the alarm clock that stood by their bed, "No, not yet." he said, "We still have about an hour. Fluttershy said that she loves having Sky around and that we can take our time."

"Okay. I don't mind staying like that some more if we can." said Rainbow Dash, looking into her husband's eyes. "You know I love you right?"

Paint smiled, "I love you too."

**A/N: Well, this is it. Happy end. Everypony lived happily ever after (except for Paint's stepfather who's in prison and Paint's mother who's dead… I dunno if I told you this but making her die it hurt a little. She was too kind to deserve it…)**

**Anyways, this is really it. This story is over. I still remember at the beginning of 'Of Friendship, Opportunity and Apprehension' when I was imagining what specific scenes would look like, like Paint protecting Rainbow Dash from the rain with his wing after they got lost while hiding from Nightmare Moon. I also remember planning this story while still writing the previous one. I remember planning Paint's breakdown in the third episode, that one scene where he finally approaches his baby sister (only to have one of his father's colleagues send him away), the part where the restricting warrant arrives, the part where his mother writes the letter to him before she dies and the part where Silver finds out about his father's actions. These points in the story were in my mind even before I began writing. I guess you can say that most stories develop after you imagine a certain point in them; then you build everything that surrounds that point. It feels a little weird to finish a story. I guess there won't be the whole waking up on Saturday and thinking 'I have to write about 3,000 words and post a chapter tonight' or 'I cannot wait to get to this part of the story and see how the readers react to it'.**

**I feel like I'll miss all of that. As of now, I might have this idea for a sequel (like with the two previous stories, I have a few specific scenes in my head already) but I don't know whether it will turn out well. If I do write it, it will be one of those stories that take place many years after the previous one. Aside from the small idea for a sequel that doesn't have much potential I also have an idea for a one-shot which I would really like to carry out. I think I'll begin writing it in a day or two.**

**If you guys would like to tell me what you think about the story or if you would like to ask me anything about the plot or other things, feel free to write a review. If you want you can also write me a PM, I'll read and reply to any PM I get and I'll also reply to reviews that have any questions in them. I would like to again thank all of you for posting reviews and telling me that you want me to finish this story. If it weren't for you I would have probably just left it unfinished. If you'll feel like reading that one-shot I'll write soon, or that sequel if it ever comes out, or any other story I might post in the future I won't stop you. (To be honest I also have an idea for a Pokemon fanfic. Not sure about it either though. If you guys do review or send a PM, I'll appreciate it if you tell me whether you would ever read such a fanfic).**

**I guess I'll see you guys next time. Have a happy new year! =)**


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